


The Fugitives

by PsychoGenius



Series: The Experiments [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Dystopian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-07-12 13:51:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 34,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19947223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsychoGenius/pseuds/PsychoGenius
Summary: The sequel to the Experiments.Mark thought that they could all escape. He thought that they could leave the facility and live their lives.Instead, they barely made it out alive with just a fraction of themselves. Not only that, but the same monsters who put them there in the first place were looking for them.The only way to finally free themselves, their friends, and their family is to find the one person who has the power to take down an entire army.They have to find Cry.





	1. -Before-

The crowds were always cheering.

Listening to it, you'd think they were watching football or soccer, or some other big sport, and you would be sort of right to think that. However what they were cheering for was awfully horrible.

A teenage boy named Tyler slowly lifted his head up from the mattress that he was laying on. He could hear the muffled cries and cheers from the inside of their room. Each laugh was sickening. Every single one of them.

His eyes roamed the cell room. It was mostly empty, the only things inside were an old mattress and a thin blanket. The darkness made it seem bigger than what it actually was, what with the only light being from a small crack underneath the door. Don't be fooled though, it was small.

It was just big enough that it wasn't too uncomfortable to live in. At least, if you were _one_ person it wasn't too uncomfortable. Shortly after first arriving here, Tyler had requested to be roomed with another mutant he had met. They weren't pushy on roommate rules, so it wasn't hard to convince them. It didn't hurt that Tyler was one of their favored contestants though.

He felt someone shift on the bed and glanced down. A small boy no older than ten was curled into his side. Ethan, one of the few friends he had made in this place. He was like a little brother to Tyler. Young, naive, and sweet as can be. All qualities that could get a mutant killed.

Tyler ran a hand through Ethan's hair, smiling softly. The light barely illuminated his sleeping face. He seemed to be having a nice dream.

A loud beep sounded throughout the room, causing Tyler to tense. He placed an arm around Ethan instinctively as he heard footsteps approaching from the hallway. He held his breath as he heard the steps stop outside their door.

After a few moments the steps continued. Tyler sighed in relief. They wouldn't be chosen today. Good, Ethan needed to rest.

Tyler was about to close his eyes when he heard a scream. One of the other mutants was being chosen.

"Please! Please don't make me go out there!"

A boy. He sounded around Tyler's age.

"You think your life is more valuable than all of theirs?"

The warden. Her voice was cold and void of any compassion.

The boy pleaded again. "I'll do anything!"

There was a long silence. Was she actually considering letting him go?

Tyler's question was answered shortly by a thud and a cry. He could hear the guy gasping like he had been hit.

"Your kind is truly disgusting. Can't even accept your fate when it's right in front of you."

Two pairs of footsteps continued down the hall, away from Tyler and Ethan's cell.

"Tyler?" A small voice spoke up in the darkness. Tyler looked down at Ethan, whose eyes were wide open.

"Hey bud, what are you doing up? It's late." Tyler kept his tone calm despite what he had just heard in the hallway.

Ethan fiddled with the edge of the blanket, eyes focused on the cell door. "They're not going to make us fight today, are they?"

Tyler shook his head. "No, they would've come and got us by now."

"Do you think they'll ever let us go?"

Tyler didn't like lies, and he knew Ethan hated being lied to. "No, I don't think they'll ever let us go. The people here are too cruel to ever do that."

"Well.." Ethan pondered for a moment. "Nevermind."

"What?"

"It's stupid."

"No it's not. What were you going to say?"

Ethan looked up at Tyler. "Do you think we'll ever get out of here?"

Tyler thought to himself. It didn't seem impossible, they just needed the right time and the right people to help. As far as Tyler knew, however, the other mutants in this place weren't keen on hatching an escape plan, mostly for fear of getting caught.

The hopeful gleam in Ethan's eyes made Tyler's heart hurt. He needed some type of hope.

"I think, with patience, and the right conditions, we can get out of here."

Ethan beamed. Tyler didn't know what hurt more, the fact that what he had just said had no hope of coming true, or the fact that Ethan seemed to believe it.

Ethan yawned, curling in towards Tyler again as he shut his eyes. "G'night..." He was softly snoring moments later. Tyler wished it was that easy for him.

He lay back against the mattress, listening to the patterns of Ethan's breathing. It was hard to focus on it when he could still just faintly hear the cries from the arena.

He wasn't going to get much sleep that night.


	2. -One-

Drowning.

He was drowning.

Cold, murky water surrounded Mark, making it impossible to tell where he was. He flapped his wings in an attempt to propel himself upward, finding that they moved slower underwater. Mark reached his hands up to try and search for the surface, only to find that there wasn't one. He was too far below, and it was too dark to see anything. It would only be a matter of time before he would have to breathe. Kicking his legs as fast as he could, Mark began to swim upwards.

Seconds after he started swimming up something wrapped around his ankle and rapidly pulled him downwards further into the depths of the water. Mark screamed, bubbles of air floating from his mouth and up, trailing his path down. He tried to kick whatever was clinging to him off of his body, but while he seemed to move too slow underwater, the thing dragging him to his doom moved quickly, avoiding Mark's attempts to free himself.

Eventually the creature let go of Mark, leaving him suspended in the water. Frantically, Mark began to swim up again. The burning in his lungs was getting stronger now. He had no idea how far below he was now. Could he even make it up before he drowned?

A hand clamped down over Mark's mouth. Mark shrieked as more hands and limbs wrapped themselves around his body, holding him in place. Muffled voices surrounded him as he tried to wriggle free.

Suddenly a light appeared in Mark's face. Two lights, actually. Two glowing blue eyes stared at him, unblinking. Mark stared back at the eyes that were mere inches from his face, the burning in his lungs temporarily forgotten.

The voices stopped. For a moment the only sound was his own heart beat pounding in his ears. The only thing Mark could see were the two, glowing blue eyes.

And then, the eyes blinked.

Mark's eyes snapped open. He stared at the ceiling for a good minute as he waited for his heartbeat to slow down. Once it finally did he sat up in bed, curling a fist around his blanket as he glanced around the room. It was hard to make anything out because of how dark it was, which was mostly due to the fact that the window into the bedroom was boarded up. The others didn't want to risk people looking in and seeing something that could cause suspicion, like a pair of bright pink wings.

After letting his eyes adjust to the dark, Mark was able to make out what was around him. There were a few more beds squished into the room along with some bins under each one full of clothes. When Mark and the others had first arrived at the apartment one of the first things they did was shove some cheap mattresses and bins of old clothes they had found into the one bedroom. They tried to utilize as much of the available space as they could. Most of them even shared a bed, excluding Mark with his massive wings that tended to smother whatever poor soul that had mistakenly chosen to sleep next to him. He swung his legs around the side of the bed and stood.

A small aching sensation was concentrated around his spine. He must've slept weird again. Groaning, Mark stretched out his wings. A satisfying pop sound came from his back and he smiled. The ache was gone.

After throwing on something comfy, Mark walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. The walls were beige, with random stains here and there, a little reminder of how shady the previous residents were and why the others didn't have to pay that much for rent. There was a window in there however, the only other one in the house. This one wasn't boarded up though. It was only about two feet wide and one foot tall, so nobody worried about someone looking in. Still, Mark made sure to tuck his wings in when he was around it. The only items in there were an old couch that had already been in the apartment when they had moved in and an ugly TV that Felix had snatched from the garbage. They only really used the TV to check the news in case the government had decided to issue their pictures and call for their arrest. So far it hadn't happened. Ryan mentioned that the reason is probably so that their families wouldn't freak out and let the public know about the government's supposed plan at finding a cure. A lot of chaos would result from it, which is the exact thing the Prime Minister doesn't want.

Mark turned on the TV and watched as a man pointed at large charts. He bit his tongue as he read the titles. _Global Plague Death Rates, Global Plague Infection Rates._ The numbers were always increasing. Every time Mark was reminded of the horrible reality of the world he worried about his family. Both his mother and Thomas were sick when he had last saw them. It didn't appear to be the Plague, but anything could've happened in the time he'd been away. It had been almost a month since they had escaped the facility, and a week longer since he had seen his family. For all Mark knew, they could be sick, afraid, hungry-

Mark's stomach growled.

Speaking of which.

After turning off the TV, Mark walked into the kitchen and spotted Jack sitting at the counter with a book. His eyes were narrowed in concentration. Mark briefly glanced at the title, _BSL for Beginners._ He would have to ask Jack what the acronym was for later. "Morning Jack." Jack glanced up, giving Mark a wide smile as he waved him over.

Mark walked over and sat down beside Jack at the counter, grabbing an apple from the little basket of fruits they had out. He started to eat, talking between mouthfuls.

"So, everybody's out?"

Jack nodded, peeling an orange.

After chewing for a moment, Mark spoke again. "Did the others say anything about the place Cry is at?" Jack shook his head, eating an orange slice.

Mark finished the apple and tossed the core into the trash. He smiled at Jack, letting his wings expand some more. Jack glanced at them for a moment before quickly shifting his gaze back down to his orange. Mark laughed, causing Jack to look back up at him.

"Dude, you can look at them, I don't mind." Jack looked at them, then back at Mark. He then pointed to his palm, then back at the wings.

"You can touch them too! Seriously it's fine."

Jack cautiously graced his fingers along the tips of Mark's wings. His eyes widened and he ran his hand along them, giving Mark a bewildered expression.

"Yeah, they're soft." He laughed.

Jack opened his mouth to laugh as well, but no sound came out. Mark kept his smile up as Jack moved his hand away from Mark's wing, still smiling as if nothing was wrong. Mark forced his gaze to stay away from Jack's throat, memories of the facility threatening to surface.

Mark spoke again, trying to push the memories back down. "So, I was thinking. When I was looking through the clothes I saw that Felix had grabbed us all some jackets. I tried one on and it fits, my wings can even squeeze underneath it. I could probably go out-"

He cut himself off after seeing Jack shake his head. Mark frowned. "I know a physical mutation is easy to spot, and the others are safer going out for jobs and getting the stuff we need, but I went two years being able to hide my wings!"

Jack opened a kitchen drawer near him and shuffled through it for a few moments, pulling out a small notepad and a pen. Minx had gotten a few for him after she and Ryan had gotten tired of having to tell everyone what he was thinking. He wrote something down on it and showed it to Mark.

_"But you were caught."_

Mark rolled his eyes. "Okay, yeah. I was caught, but that's only because this guy stole my jacket. I could've hid forever if that hadn't happened."

Jack wrote some more. _"It's better to not take the risk. Besides, the others can get what we need and not draw attention to themselves."_

Mark sighed. "I know, but I hate having to stay hidden. I hated it before and I hate it now. It makes me feel..." He trailed off. Jack wrote down a word and showed it to him. _"Useless?"_ Mark nodded. "Yeah, that." Jack scribbled a little more on his notepad before shoving it in Mark's face.

_"Well you're NOT useless. If it wasn't for you we never would've escaped that place. Besides, I'm stuck here too with my green-ass eye. Neither of us are useless dude, we're just on the sidelines right now."_

Mark smiled. "Thanks Jack." Jack smiled and wrapped an arm around Mark's shoulders for a quick side hug.

They heard the door unlocking. Instinctively, Mark tensed. He relaxed when he saw Felix stick his head in, smiling wide with a sparkle in his blue eyes.

"Sup ladies, we got some good shit!" He pushed the door open, revealing a few bags on each of his arms. Anthony walked in after him, holding even more bags.

Jack furrowed his brows in confusion. Mark mimicked the reaction. "Where'd you guys get the money for that?"

Laughing, Felix placed the bags on the counter. "We got the skills to pay the bills bros. Now we've got enough food to actually make a meal. No offense to the little bit of fruit and bread, but I want some real food." Both him and Anthony headed into the kitchen and started to put food away. Jack closed the book he was reading, making sure to press the front cover against his chest as he stood. He grabbed the notepad and walked towards the living room, making sure that no one else saw the name of the book.

Frowning, Mark stood and followed him. When he entered he saw Jack shove the book under a couch cushion before sitting on the couch. Mark furrowed his brow. "You know you could put that book up on the counter, right? Or at least somewhere where it can't be damaged." Jack shook his head.

Mark sat down on the couch beside Jack. "Why are you acting weird? As soon as the others came in here you went to hide that thing. What's it even about?" Jack sighed, pulling out the same notepad from earlier and writing something. Mark leaned in to see what he had wrote.

_"It's a book that teaches British Sign Language. I asked Minx to grab it for me from a bookstore."_

"Oh!" Mark smiled. "That's awesome! Why would you try to hide that?" Jack wrote some more, taking significantly longer than before. Mark read as he wrote, frowning as he crossed out some words..

_"I'm only learning because I know my voice isn't going to come back. It's been over a year since I healed my eye, and I'm still half-blind. If I can't speak now, I'm probably never going to speak again. If Felix sees that book, he's going to think I've given up or something. I haven't. I've been trying so hard. I spend at least an hour every morning trying to speak. It's gone."_

Jack tightened his hand around the pen, trying to steady his hand and write some more. His eyes glistened with tears.

Mark put a hand over Jack's, worried over the continued shaking. He pulled Jack against himself, allowing his friend to cry silently into his shoulder.

Felix shouted from the kitchen. "How many meatballs do you guys want in the spaghetti? A lot? I'm going with a lot!"

Jack pulled away from Mark, wiping his eyes. Mark looked at him. "You okay?" Jack nodded, picking up the notepad and pen again, writing something else and showing it to Mark.

_"Don't tell Felix about the book, or what I wrote, Please."_

Mark looked up from the words to stare at Jack. "Are you sure you don't want to talk to him about this? It might be better for both of you if this is brought up." Jack shook his head, placing a finger to his lips. Sighing, Mark nodded. "Okay, secret's safe with me bud."

Jack beamed, hugging Mark again.

Both of them jumped at hearing the door into the house slam open. They didn't have to wonder who it was for very long.

"Dan, dude, what's with the hissy fit?" Felix's voice could be heard from the kitchen. Mark and Jack both stood and re-entered the kitchen. Dan was glaring at Felix, his eyes flashing dangerously between brown and black. "You know exactly why, you _thief_." Felix glared back at Dan, crossing his arms. Anthony continued cooking, making sure to avoid the accusing glance Dan shot him.

Mark and glanced at Jack, who appeared just as confused. He looked back at Felix. "What does he mean by thief?"

Felix rolled his eyes. "He's just exaggerating. It did seem like I was stealing, with the awesome deals we found."

"Shut up!" Dan growled. He looked back to Jack and Mark. "Felix and Anthony had the oh-so-brilliant idea of 'borrowing' the food they brought back, using their powers to do so."

Anthony dropped the ladle he was using, and Felix's face reddened. Mark clenched his fists, turning to glare at them. "What were you thinking?!"

Felix raised his hands up in defense. "Hey, we used our powers so we wouldn't get caught! Which we didn't, by the way!"

"That's not the point!" Dan yelled, a scowl forming on his face. "You could've gotten us caught! One wrong move and we would've been discovered. All of _this_ ," he gestured vaguely to the room and its occupants, "would have been for nothing."

Felix glanced around nervously, eyes finally settling on Jack. "Jack, dude, you have to side with me on this. We were starving! We're barely making money with those shitty jobs, we had to do this!"

Jack stared at Felix for a few moments before shaking his head, leaving the room. They heard the bedroom door slam. Felix stared at where Jack had previously been standing in disbelief.

The room was silent and tense. Dan muttered to himself as he walked into the living room. Felix glanced over at Mark, his eyes hardening into a glare. Mark nervously pulled his wings closer to himself, exiting the kitchen and heading into the bedroom.

Jack was going through the clothes, his face expressionless when Mark walked in. He made sure to close the door softly behind himself. He walked over to Jack. "Hey.. are you okay?"

Without looking up, Jack nodded.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Bullshit, that's a lie." He ran a hand through his hair, glancing at the door. "You know you can be mad, right? What they did was reckless."

Jack opened his mouth to respond, blushing slightly as he remembered what he couldn't do. He then got up and walked over to the bed he usually slept on, pulling a smaller notepad and pencil out from underneath a pillow. He sat down on the bed and began to write. Mark sat down next to him and read as he finished.

_"I am mad. I don't want to keep being mad though. I don't want to fight with him."_

Mark narrowed his eyes. "Why? He deserved to get yelled at. I'm surprised Dan didn't continue." Jack gave Mark a sad look, writing more.

_"We have the government looking for us. They might not have made it publicly known, but that's what they're doing. If we fight over stuff like this it's going to make it harder to stay hidden. What if Dan had confronted them in public, or if they had started to fight and use their powers? They could find us at any second."_

As Mark read those words his chest tightened. It wasn't new information, all of them knew the danger the United Kingdom's government posed. Seeing it written out, however, put things into perspective.

Jack seemed to be thinking the same thing too, tapping the pencil against his thigh nervously. Mark grabbed his hand, stopping him from tapping. "Just, don't freak out, okay? We're going to be okay. We're all smart enough to realize what our real enemy is." Jack nodded, forcing a smile. That'd probably be the best Mark would get out of him, at least for right now.

The door opened slowly as Dan popped his head in. "Hey." Jack gave a small wave while Mark nodded.

"Look, I'm sorry if what I said upset you, but I wasn't going to let them get away with it. It's reckless."

Mark shook his head. "No, it's good you said something. They both need to realize how dangerous that was." He ran a hand through his hair, laughing a little. "I mean, I guess the one good thing out of this is that we have a shit ton of food now." Jack laughed silently. Smiling just slightly, Dan rolled his eyes. "Glad to know you're fine then. Anyway, I came in here to let you know that I'm heading out with Nate and Matt to try and make some cash. We'll be back later tonight."

Mark smiled. "Thanks for letting us know. Stay safe." Dan nodded and left them in the bedroom, heading back to the door where Nate and Matt were standing. Matt smirked as he spoke to Nate. "-and if you were to sing in a higher pitch I believe the effects of your voice would be even more destructive." Nate crossed his arms, chuckling at Matt's child-like interest. "Really?"

Dan cleared his throat, gaining both of their attention. "Ready to go?" Nate nodded, pointing to his other side. "Yeah, Felix decided he wanted to come too." On cue, Felix walked in. He grinned. "Ready bros!" Matt and Nate lead the way out of the apartment, chatting about some job listings that they had seen. Dan took the opportunity to roughly yank Felix back with him, ignoring his random string of curses. "What the hell makes you think you can come out with us?" Felix rolled his eyes. "You're not the boss of me."

Dan's eyes darkened. "I could be."

Felix laughed. "As soon as the others found out you used your creepy mind shit on me you'd get your ass kicked by Minx. Besides, I don't want to cause trouble." His smile fell. "I know Jack was upset, and I don't want him to be disappointed in me. So, even though it's completely stupid, I'll earn the stuff instead of stealing."

Surprised, Dan's eyes softened. He sighed. "Whatever, but the second you do something stupid I won't hesitate to tell them." Felix nodded. "Fair enough."

Together, the four men walked out of the apartment building and into the chilling streets of Brighton.


	3. -Two-

The air was frigid, something that Felix had to grow used to after living in the constantly-room-temperature facility for most of his life. Still, even with the cold air making his lungs hurt, it would forever beat the sterile confines of that nightmare. He walked casually beside Dan while Matt and Nate lead the group in front of them.

"Hey, how far away is this place?" Felix asked. Matt turned to look at Felix. "Another block."

Okay, Felix could handle the cold a little longer. Hopefully with the money they got from the job they could buy some thicker jackets. Winter was only a few weeks away.

Shivering, Felix glanced at the shops as they walked by. Groups of homeless sat near the entrances, trying to steal some heat before they'd get the cops called on them. Most of them appeared to be adults. It wasn't a surprise. Not many kids would survive out on the streets like this. Especially not in the cold. There were a few younger girls however. Three were standing right outside of a tailor's, huddled together for warmth. A small car stopped beside them, and a sick feeling overcame Felix as he watched one of them flash the man before getting in his car. He quickly caught up to Dan and the others, trying to forget what he had just saw.

Matt pointed to a grocery store further down the sidewalk. It was small, and all of the windows were boarded up. The only indication that it was open was some light seeping through the cracks of wood. "There! They were hiring yesterday!" Nate narrowed his eyes. "What makes you think that someone hasn't already gotten the job?" Matt shrugged. "We won't know until we head in." He opened the door and walked into the store, the others following him.

A wave of warm air hit them as soon as they entered. Felix looked around, seeing produce that was barely adequate lining the shelves. A lot of the food seemed to have just passed their expiration dates, which is probably why it was cheaper than the other places Felix had seen. Still, without jobs they couldn't afford it. Numerous people quickly snatched what food they could afford off of the shelves, as if it might be their last meal. For some of them it probably will be.

Someone bumped into Dan, causing him to stumble back into Felix. Luckily, Felix was able to steady them both before they could fall. Dan whipped his head around to glare at the man who had nearly knocked them over. "Hey!"

The man stopped, turning around. "The hell do you want?"

"Are you going to apologize?"

The man smirked. "For what? You're the one who can't keep his fucking ground. I barely nudged ya."

Dan's eyes darkened, and the air around him grew tense. They needed to stop him before he did something he'd regret. Felix grabbed Dan's arm and started pulling him towards where Matt and Nate went.

"Okay Dan, what the fuck."

Dan grumbled, yanking his arm away from Felix. "He was annoying."

"We're trying to not be discovered. What do you think people would do if that guy started having a seizure and you were leering above him like the incarnation of death itself?"

Sighing, Dan nodded. "Okay, I get it."

"Good! Then don't do it again!" Felix turned away from Dan to look for the others, smiling when he saw them talking to a girl at the checkout. As he started to make his way over to them, he could hear their conversation.

"Are you sure?" Matt asked.

The girl nodded. "Yep, a man asked about the opening already. He knew the manager so he got the job."

Nate scoffed. "Seriously? No interview or anything?"

The girl shrugged. "They've known each other for a while."

Nate shook his head. "This is bullshit." He briskly walked away from the girl towards the back of the store. Matt gave the girl an apologetic look before following Nate, Felix and Dan close behind him.

Dan groaned. "That was pointless. Felix shrugged. "There's bound to be more jobs somewhere." Dan rolled his eyes.

"They're not going to hire a bunch of teenagers."

Felix sighed. "Stealing food doesn't sound as bad now, does it?" He laughed as he watched Dan shake his head, hurrying to catch up with the others. They walked out of the store and saw them standing outside of a bakery across the street. Matt waved them over, and they walked over to them.

"So," Dan said, "Any other places you know are hiring?" Matt sighed. "No, this was the only place I had heard of. Everywhere else either needs more experienced people, or they have jobs that were shady."

Felix thought back to the girls who were standing on the street corner, his stomach turning. He spoke up, not wanting to dwell on what he saw. "Let's keep looking, there's bound to be some type of work we can do." The others gave him unsure looks, but continued down the street to look for work. It was then that they felt little drops of water sprinkling along their skin. Matt shrugged. "Maybe it'll lighten up?"

\------------------------

It did not lighten up.

Felix squinted through the sheets of rain as they tried to look for "now hiring" signs. Matt and Nate were huddled close in front, pointing out random stores and arguing about which ones would hire them. Dan seemed to be the only one not bothered by the rain, his face looking as monotone as ever. Well, Felix thought, maybe he was irritated, it was hard to tell with him.

Eventually Nate managed to convince Matt to stop under a covered bus stop. Once they were all huddled inside, Nate turned to Matt.

"We should go home. There are no job openings, and if we stay out any longer we're going to get sick. Then it'll be bad for everyone."

"Jack can heal us if we get sick! He's done it before, hasn't he?"

"Hey," it was Felix's turn to pipe up. "Jack isn't an endless prescription bottle. We can't push ourselves to the absolute edge and ask him to heal us each time. It takes a lot of his energy."

Matt glanced at him. "He'll be fine. He always bounces back."

"That's not the point!" Felix sighed. "Look, we're not going to do any good out here. We're going back."

Matt looked at him for a moment in thought. He nodded. "Okay, we'll go to the apartment, but still be on the lookout for openings on the way back. There's too many of us to feed for only a few of us to have jobs." He lead the way out of the overhang, Nate quickly moving to catch up to him. Felix hung back with Dan, his head bowed forward a bit to prevent the rain from hitting his face. He should've stole a hat-

"Saw how you stuck up for Jack back there." Dan said softly, not wanting the two in front of them to hear. There didn't seem to be a need to speak so quietly, the rain practically drowned out his voice, and Matt and Nate were too enthralled in their own conversation to listen. Still, Felix spoke softer. "He was talking about him like he's only here to heal us."

Dan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "He would heal us if we needed to be healed." Felix shook his head. "Don't you start either. We don't have a right to just use Jack like that."

"You're making this a bigger deal than it is. You do have a point, but not once did Matt state he thought it was Jack's responsibility to heal us. We can't get into conflicts. Not when we have Churchlin looking for us." The atmosphere seemed to grow tense at the drop of the Prime Minister's name. Felix sighed. "I'm seriously going to have to reel myself in."

"Damn straight."

"Isn't this the part where you're all like 'oh no! You're not a bad guy Felix! Just a protective friend!'"

"Overprotective is more like it."

"Hey!"

Dan smirked, turning away from Felix to look ahead. Matt and Nate had stopped outside a building. Felix looked at them. "Hey, is there an opening here?" Matt shook his head, pointing to something near an alley that was next to the building. His face was solemn. Dan and Felix walked up beside them to see what had caught their attention.

A small group of men were surrounding a boy around their age. Felix was confused as to why they were watching this.

And then he heard a word that explained the whole thing.

"Mutie!"

The boy frantically shook his head, tears in his eyes. "I'm not! I swear I'm not!"

Out of nowhere a rock came flying towards the boy's face. The boy quickly closed his eyes and held his hands up, the rock freezing in midair. He opened his eyes, gasping as he yanked his hands back. The rock fell to the ground.

"Really?" The man scoffed. The group of men began to close in on the boy.

As soon as Felix heard the first cry he tried to rush forward, only to suddenly feel Dan's mental manipulation making him decide to stay in place. "What are you doing?! We can help him!"

Matt looked at Felix in sorrow. "We can't, we'll bring attention to ourselves and get caught." Felix shook his head. "They'll kill him!"

Matt opened his mouth to protest again, but Nate beat him to it. "Our powers will draw attention. Do you want to risk endangering the others? Do you want to make it easier for them to find us?"

Felix stopped struggling, his heart dropping at the words. There was nothing they could do, not without the risk of getting exposed.

"We should go." Nate said softly. Felix nodded, Dan finally returning control to him. He followed the others as they walked away from the group of men and the mutant boy.

Even when they were out of earshot, the boy's cries echoed in his ears.


	4. -Three-

Mark glanced at the boarded up window as he listened to the rain. It would only be a matter of time before it would be snowing instead. Jack tapped his shoulder and then pointed back down to the book in Mark's hands. Smiling, Mark asked "Ready to try again?" Jack nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay." Mark looked down at the book,making sure to tilt it towards himself so Jack couldn't see the diagrams. "'Hello.'" Jack raised a hand and did a gesture similar to a salute that matched up with the pictures in the book. Mark nodded. "Great!" He turned the page.

"Now do 'Goodbye.'" Jack performed another gesture, once again matching the diagrams. Mark grinned. "You're picking up on this quick! How about we try something harder?" Jack gave a thumbs up.

"'Do you know where I can find a room?'" Mark looked up at Jack, noticing how he scrunched up his face in concentration. Hesitantly, Jack signed the phrase, only messing up once, but quickly corrected himself.

"You did it!" Jack gaped at him, mouthing 'really?'

"Yep! You only messed up once, but you fixed it."

Jack beamed, tapping on the book again.

"Okay! Hold on a second." Mark laughed at Jack's childlike enthusiasm. As he was trying to decide on which phrase to choose the door opened.

Minx stuck her head in, smiling. "Getting use out of that book?" Jack nodded, waving. Mark waved as well. "Any luck out there?"

"No." Minx sighed, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "It seems that people are doubling their prices as we get closer to winter. Assholes trying to make a few extra bucks." She smiled. "It seems Anthony and Felix actually managed to score some deals though. The food looks great!"

Mark nodded, opting not to mention that the food was stolen. Best to prevent a conflict before it starts. "Yeah, it was pretty lucky.."

Minx rolled her eyes. "Luck had nothing to do with it. I could practically see the guilt radiating off of Anthony. They stole it."

Jack's eyes widened, and he quickly fumbled for a notebook, scribbling out _You're not mad?_ and showing it to Minx. She shook her head. "No, I'm not mad. I mean, it was stupid of them both to use their powers like that, but they didn't get caught. Plus, we can eat for a few days." She waved her hand dismissively. "As long as they're smart about it, I'm okay with a few stolen goods. We're not living in the best economy right now anyway."

Jack frowned, looking at the book. He began to write something down.

Minx glared at him, her eyes changing color slightly. Mark could feel a change in the air as she read Jack's mind. He for some reason began to feel a strong sense of guilt.

Minx placed her hand on top of Jack's, stopping him from writing. "No. The book was cheap, and worth it if it's going to help you communicate with us easier. We're all going to use it, so it benefits us all."

The guilt faded away, still noticeable, but barely. Mark glanced curiously at Minx, unsure how she was projecting what she saw in Jack's mind unto Mark's. He decided to ignore it for now, instead opting to place a hand on Jack's shoulder. "She's right, don't feel guilty about this, okay?" Mark said, giving Jack a small smile. Jack nodded, smiling back.

Minx rolled her eyes. "You two are both way too mushy. Especially you." She pointed at Mark. "You're like, the king of mushy."

Mark placed a hand on his chest in mock defense. "I'll have you know that I am the emperor of all that is mushy." Jack laughed silently, writing in the notebook and showing it to Mark. He laughed, nodding. "Yes Jack, I am the god of mushy."

The door opened again. Jonathan smirked as he looked at them, Evan perched on his shoulder in owl-form. "Food's ready dudes. And it's all mine" Evan pecked his face. "Ow! Okay, it's for all of us."

Minx walked past Jonathan. "Food is all mine!" She ran to the kitchen, Jonathan and Evan bolting after her.

Shaking his head, Mark stood. "Well, guess we'll starve." Jack laughed, patting Mark's shoulder as they made it to the kitchen. Everyone except Ryan was seated at the table with plates full of food. It was safe to assume that there wouldn't be any leftovers. Jack took a seat next to Felix, and Mark sat on the other side of Jack.

As Mark began to put some food on his plate, the door opened. Ryan walked in, smiling as he greeted everyone. Minx glanced up at him and smiled as well. However, Mark noticed, her smile didn't seem to reach her eyes. She then looked back down at her plate.

Deciding to question her later, Mark took a bite of the spaghetti, savoring the taste. He glanced around the table at the others as they chattered and laughed. Felix seemed to be avoiding eating his food, his gaze fixated on the plate.

Frowning, Mark nudged Jack, who was in the middle of stuffing his face. He turned to Mark, swallowing, giving him a curious look.

Mark pointed to Felix, and Jack seemed to understand. He tapped Felix's shoulder.

Felix slowly looked up at Jack, his frown quickly turning into a smile. "Sup bro?" It seemed, fake.

Mark poked at his food, glancing at them from the corner of his eye, not wanting to be rude.

Jack shook his head, mouthing _What's wrong_ in the absence of his notebook. Felix gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's nothing! Really."

Unconvinced, Jack narrowed his eyes at him. Felix rolled his eyes. "Ugh, you look like a mom." He turned to look at his plate again, eating some food.

Jack frantically tapped Felix's shoulder, his eyes hardened into a glare. "Okay stop." Felix grabbed Jack's wrist, gently pushing it away. "It's getting annoying."

Frowning, Jack looked at Felix, slowly removing his hand. Felix sighed. "Just eat, I'd rather not talk about it." Jack nodded reluctantly as he returned to his food.

Mark put down his fork. They both looked sad now. Sighing, he tapped Jack's shoulder. "Hey, you want to eat in the living room? I need space to stretch my wings." Mark thought it would be best for all three of them if they were in separate rooms for a moment.

Jack nodded, a grateful smile on his face as he took his plate to the living room. Mark stood and followed him, glancing back to see a hurt look on Felix's face. Once Felix saw that Mark was looking at him he quickly looked away.

As Mark entered the living room he saw Jack scribbling into his notebook. He sat next to him on the couch, glancing to see what he had wrote.

_"I don't know what he's so upset about. Do you think an officer noticed them while they were out?"_

After considering the idea Mark shook his head. "No, they would've told us. There are lots of things they could've seen. It's not a nice place out there Jack. You haven't been out on the streets in years. You don't really have a clear idea of what it's like."

Jack contemplated this and wrote some more. _"Why wouldn't he trust me though?"_

Mark gave a small smile. "It's not that he doesn't trust you, I think he just wants to protect you. He doesn't want you to know what it's like out there."

Jack turned the notebook to Mark. _"What's it like?"_

Memories began to surface in Mark's head. He was unsure of how much to tell Jack, but something was better than nothing. He tapped his fingers against his thigh as he thought. "Well, there are a lot of homeless. Some of them just look afraid, others are angry." He thought back to the man who ripped off his jacket in America. "If you're going to go outside you really should travel with someone. It's dangerous.

Lots of people don't have good jobs, so you see tons of illegal things. Drug dealers for one, and.. prostitutes. One of the most unsettling things would have to be the mutant hate crimes."

Jack looked at him, waiting for Mark to continue.

"You see people shouting out slurs like _mutie_ and even holding signs that say _death to the mutants_. People that are suspected of being mutants are beat in the streets. Some even murdered. It's terrifying." Marks drew his wings closer to himself. "I can understand why Felix wouldn't want to tell you about whatever it is he saw."

Jack patted Mark's shoulder with one hand. He lifted his other one up to his own face, placing his fingers against his chin, and then moved it back down. The sign for _thank you._

It took Mark a second to recognize the sign, but he smiled once he did. "I just thought you had the right to know." Jack started another series of gestures, causing Mark's eyes to widen. "H-hey! I don't know any of those!"

Jack laughed, taking his notebook out again and writing down the meaning of the signs.

Once Felix had forced himself to eat the food on his plate he took his dishes to the sink. Dan stood up shortly after him, placing his dishes in the sink as well. "So, you're keeping things from Jack now?"

Felix sighed, glancing over his shoulder to the table. The others were just far enough away and speaking just loud enough that they couldn't possibly hear Dan and Felix talk. Felix turned to Dan, speaking low. "Would you tell Phil what you saw?"

Dan tensed a little, and Felix was afraid he'd snapped. Fortunately Dan relaxed a little and rolled his eyes. "I see your point, but Phil would've understood why we couldn't do anything, and so would've Jack."

"I don't understand why we couldn't help him!" Felix, slapped a hand over his own mouth, looking back to see if the others had heard him that time. Again, they were too enthralled in their own conversations to really notice. Felix let his hand drop and looked to Dan.

"Even though the rest of our powers would have drawn attention, yours could've stopped them without us having to be discovered. You could've like, messed with their memories or something. They wouldn't know what happened."

Dan glared at him. "Stop acting like you know how my powers work. You don't. I can't permanently wipe memories, at most I could've made them leave. Even then my ability would have worn off eventually, and they would've reported to someone about me!"

"Well, we didn't even have to use our powers to stop them. We could've taken them down ourselves. Maybe even just distract them long enough for the kid to get away."

Dan shook his head. "That would still make them suspicious, very few people actually go out of their way to help mutants. They'd be coming after us. And even if they didn't try to fight us, they'd tell others. It wouldn't be long until a government official heard of a group of boys who defended a mutant. They'd look into it Felix."

Felix glanced down at the sink. "It's not fair. We can't just stand by as people like us are beaten and murdered.."

"Well," Dan said, "Would you rather it be them, or us?"

Felix looked back over the table full of friends, people he had lived with for years. He also thought back to Mark and Jack sitting in the living room.

Reluctantly, he answered.

"Them."


	5. -Four-

Mark opened his eyes slowly, noticing how his feathers were being pressed between his side and the mattress. He had fallen asleep on one of his wings. Gradually he sat up, stretching out his wings to try and shake the numb feeling in them.

In the bed across from him lay Jack. He was asleep, his arm hanging over the side of the bed, right above his fallen _BSL_ book. Smiling softly, Mark stood up and kneeled down to pick up the book. He placed it on the bed with Jack, noticing how he stirred a little, but stayed asleep.

 _Might as well make something for breakfast_ _,_ Mark thought, walking out of the bedroom. Once he was in the kitchen he began to go through the food. He decided on some eggs and bacon from the fridge. Mark then grabbed a pan and started cooking.

As the aroma spread throughout the apartment, Mark could feel himself growing hungrier. Once the food was done he put some on one plate for himself, and another for Jack.

On cue, Jack walked out of the bedroom, wiping his eyes as he yawned. He smiled at Mark, bending his right hand towards himself and tapping the left side of his chest and then the right, the good morning sign. Mark smiled and copied it, albeit a little less smoothly compared to Jack. He placed the plates on the counter in their usual spots for breakfast and sat down. Jack sat besides him, and began to eat.

A few bites in he gave Mark a thumbs up. Mark beamed. "Awesome! I didn't screw up eggs and bacon." Jack rolled his eyes as he ate some more.

Mark had only begun to eat his food when they heard a knock at the door. He glanced at Jack. "Did the others mention anything about coming back early?" Jack shook his head. Mark stood up and walked to the door, peering into the peephole.

Outside stood a male British officer.

Mark pulled away from the door, panicking. Before he could say anything the officer knocked again, this time speaking. "This is the police! I'm performing an apartment search. I have a warrant on this entire building. I can also see that the lights are on, so open the door."

Jack paled, looking to Mark with wide eyes. Mark bit his lip as he nervously tucked his wings against his back. "J-just a minute!" He grabbed Jack by the arm and ran with him back to the bedroom. "Hide under one of the beds! The boxes will block you." Jack pointed at his wings.

"I'll take care of it! Just hide!" Jack reluctantly squeezed himself under the bed, sliding the boxes around himself. It was impossible to see him, Mark just had to make sure the officer didn't move any of the boxes.

The knocking on the door became louder as the man grew impatient. Quickly, Mark went through some of the clothes they had found, grabbing an oversized sweater to cover up his wings. He pulled it on, running to the bathroom mirror to check for any feathers peeking out. It hid his wings perfectly.

The knocking continued. "If you don't open this door I will have to break it down!"

Mark hurried over to the door and unlocked it, steadying the shaking in his hands. He opened it to reveal the officer's irritated expression.

Mark forced a smile. "Hello officer, what brings you here?"

The officer stepped inside the apartment, looking around. "My department was given instructions to search through some apartment buildings for some mutant fugitives that had escaped a prison."

So they were looking for them. Mark faked ignorance. "Were there any descriptions given?"

The officer shook his head, heading into the kitchen. "No, but we should be getting files any day now." He narrowed his eyes at something. "Are you alone?"

Mark nodded. "Yep."

"Where are your parents?"

Mark fiddled with his sleeves. "Work, they both work." He thought back to the many beds and decided to add on before the cop got suspicious. "I have a few uncles and older siblings who work too. They all live with us."

The officer nodded. "Hard times, glad to see you still have some family kid." He pointed at the counter, and the half-eaten food on the plates. "Was one of them just here?"

Mark felt his heart drop. "Y-yeah. My mom was just here. She had to hurry back to work."

"Funny," The officer glanced at Mark. "I didn't see anyone in the hall. I might've just missed her."

His wings drew closer to his back in fear. Mark kept his smile up as the officer moved to the living room. The man gave the boarded up window a curious look. "Any reason you've decided to completely board up your window here?"

Mark shrugged. "It's a dangerous neighborhood." Seeming to accept that as answer, the man moved on to his next question.

"Your accent, it's American, right?"

"Y-yes." Mark hated his stutter. Hated it with a passion.

"You and your family moved all the way out here? Is America's economy doing that poorly?"

Mark nodded again, deciding to add more details to the fake backstory. "It was bad. My parents and my siblings decided to fly over here after our uncles invited us. They had already been living here a few months prior."

Amazingly, the officer seemed to buy it. "Mm, didn't think it was going to work out after that Trump fellow won the election way back when. Now look where it's lead them."

Mark silently agreed with him, although he was tempted to mention how much of a psycho the officer's current Prime Minister was.

The officer walked into the bedroom next, causing Mark's anxiety to skyrocket. He followed quickly behind him, trying to calm his own nerves. The officer shook his head. "Troubling to see families having to resort to apartments like this. No offense of course."

"None taken."

As the officer looked around the beds, gently nudging the boxes around with his foot. He seemed to not want to go through them all and walked out of the room. As soon as he was out of view Mark let out a small sigh of relief. The worst part was over.

"Hey kid, do you have a pet bird or something?"

 _Shit_. That came from the bathroom. Mark entered, looking at a few stray feathers in the officer's hand.

_Long, pink feathers._

His wings somehow tightened even more around his torso.

The officer looked down at the feathers. "I can't really see what bird this is from, but it has to be exotic. Where is it?"

Mark tried to form a lie in his head that could convince the officer to not come back. "A-actually, my mom likes to do these arts and crafts, and she bought some feathers to make this mask thing for Halloween."

The officer didn't look convinced. "That doesn't explain why they were on the shower floor."

"I-I... I don't know how they got in there..."

They both stared at each other for a moment, Mark in fear, and the officer in suspicion. Finally, the officer put the feathers in the garbage. "Well, moms can be a little nutty, who knows." He chuckled, and Mark forced out a small laugh, the tension slightly eased. The officer made his way out of the bathroom.

"Sorry to bother you, I know an officer coming out of the blue can be a bit frightening, especially to a kid such as yourself."

_Scared the shit out of him._

"But! There's nothing strange here. Just be on the lookout for those fugitives, mutants are dangerous things." He opened the door, giving a small wave to Mark before going on his way.

As soon as he left, Mark shut the door, locked it, and backed away into the kitchen counter. His arms were shaking, and his wings were cramping up. He yanked the sweater off, letting his wings expand and cocoon himself protectively.

His heart was beating rapidly. That was close. That was so close.

After he let his breathing return to somewhat normal, he called out for Jack. "J-Jack! He's gone n-now." His stutter was still there. He was scared. He was so scared.

Jack emerged from the bedroom, eyes wide and expression full of shock. He ran over to Mark, grabbing his hands and looking into his eyes. He mouthed _Are you okay?_

Mark nodded, exhaling shakily. "Y-yeah. He didn't find anything too suspicious. I don't think we're in danger at the moment." He bit his lip. "But he might come back. They didn't have any files on us when they were ordered to search apartments. Once they get them he'll remember that he saw me."

Frowning, Jack pointed at Mark's chest, or rather the fact that it was moving up and down way too fast. His breathing was becoming irregular. Jack then pointed at Mark's face, bringing his hand back and placing it on his own chest and then removing it with a twisting motion. He then used the same hand to make a thumbs up and used his other hand to lift it up. _Do you need help?_

Mark narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember the signs, his breathing only becoming worse. Jack took it as a yes and made an exaggerated inhaling and exhaling motion, trying to get Mark to be in rhythm with him. Eventually it worked, and Mark was able to once again steady his breathing.

Jack raised his eyebrows, giving a thumbs up with a curious look.

Mark nodded and gave a thumbs up back. "I'm okay, thank you." Jack smiled and hugged him, glad he was okay.

The door suddenly opened, and both boys tightened their hug in fear. Once they saw that it was only Matt and Nate they relaxed.

Matt narrowed his eyes. "Are you both okay?"

Nate nodded. "Yeah, you look stressed."

Mark and Jack both exchanged a look before staring back up at their two friends. Sighing, Mark decided to recap.

"An officer was looking through the apartments."

Nate gasped. "Did they realize that you two were.."

Jack shook his head. Matt groaned. "It's only going to get worse from here." He looked back down at Mark and Jack. "Well, good job doing whatever you did to throw him off, but we're going to need to be even more careful from now on. And I assume that they'll eventually get physical descriptions of all of us to help in their search."

Nate looked at Matt. "We're not safe here anymore, are we?"

Shaking his head, Matt headed towards the kitchen while Nate followed him.

Mark and Jack looked at each other in worry.

They had a feeling that the encounter with the officer wasn't going to be their only close call.


	6. -Five-

"So," Ryan looked around the kitchen table. Everyone was gathered there, all of them anxious after hearing about the officer and the descriptions of themselves that would be handed out to the entire British police force.

"We're going to have to leave."

Minx stood, glaring at him. "We can't leave, that'll make us look more suspicious."

"Well," said Jonathan, "They're going to have our actual physical descriptions and probably photos any day now, which will probably make us even _more_ suspicious."

Ryan nodded. "Exactly, which is why we need to move as soon as we can. We'll have to break off into groups so we don't draw attention to ourselves."

"How the hell are we supposed to get to Italy without being discovered? The United Kingdom isn't part of the EU, they'll check us for passports," Dan said, crossing his arms.

Ryan sighed. "We'll have to use our powers. There's no other choice."

The others started speaking up all at once. Mark felt Jack tug on his arm. He looked over at him, watching as Jack pointed to Mark and then at himself.

"You want us to be in the same group?" Jack nodded, smiling. Mark smiled back. "Of course I will."

Jack beamed and began to sign, when Felix wrapped an arm around his shoulder. He quickly stopped, opting to wave at Felix instead so as not to cause suspicion.

"Hey, I never got to ask if you were both alright after that cop came here." Although Felix addressed them both, he only looked at Jack.

Mark nodded. "Yeah, he honestly didn't seem like he was good at his job."

Laughing, Felix tightened his hug on Jack. "I'm sure you would've both been able to kick his ass if he were to get suspicious. Well, maybe not Jack." Jack scoffed, playfully punching Felix in his other shoulder.

"Ow! Okay maybe you could, but probably not well!" Jack smirked, rolling his eyes.

Mark smiled, glad to see them both acting more normal towards each other.

**I'm telling you we can't have them go.**

Mark tensed, recognizing that voice immediately. He looked to Minx and Ryan, who were staring at each other off to the side of the room. Oddly, Mark was the only one who had heard them.

**_We can't just leave them!_ **

They were using their powers to communicate. But how was Mark...? He continued to listen to them.

**You know they can't handle being out there and having to fight off those guards. They'll get killed.**

**_They'll get killed if they stay here._ **

Mark watched them both with uncertainty. Their voices seemed to be growing in volume as one tried to overpower the other.

**We need to find Krism, and Snake, all of the others! They can actually do this!**

Who?!

**_We don't even know if they're alive Minx! And the others can do this too! Did you not see how they fought back at the facility? They are more than capable._ **

**We weren't able to even save everyone. We came out with a fraction of our people. I'm not even sure if escaping would've been possible if it weren't for us and Matt. We can do this, they can't.**

Mark drew his wings towards himself. It hurt to hear Minx say that, but in all honesty he thought she was right. Ryan and Minx came in handy over and over again, and if it weren't for Matt they could've been caught, and all of it would've been for nothing.

Ryan glared at Minx before sighing and walking over to Matt. Minx watched as he retreated before she went into another room.

Mark stared at her as she left until he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He quickly turned to see Jack looking at him in concern. Felix was staring at him as well. "Hey, are you okay man? You really spaced out."

Mark nodded. "Y-yeah, sorry, what were you saying?" Felix began to speak again, and Mark tried to pay attention as he thought about Minx and Ryan's conversation.

————————————————

 **Goodbye**.

Mark sat up in bed, Minx's voice having been clear enough and loud enough to startle him out of slumber. He glanced around at the others in their beds. Ryan was gone, along with Minx.

Careful not to wake anyone up, Mark got out of bed and tiptoed out of the bedroom. Once out he walked into the kitchen, catching Minx just as she was opening the door out of the apartment.

"Minx!" Mark whisper-yelled. Minx spun around, staring at Mark with wide eyes. "Mark? What are you doing up?"

"What are _you_ doing up? Where are you going?" Sighing, Minx closed the door. "I'm going to find Cry, and a few of my old friends."

"What about the rest of us? We are capable, we can help-"

"Look, you wouldn't understand. You didn't escape from a hellhole only to get thrown back inside. You don't know what it's like spending years thinking a close friend has died, only for them to still be alive. There is so much riding on us finding Cry, and none of you were even able to save everyone."

"Why not at least me then?!" Mark was starting to get a little too loud, but he didn't care. "I thought you trusted me like how I trusted you!"

Minx glared at him. "I do trust you, but you were barely able to make it out of that prison alive. If I'm being honest, all you were was someone that I was able to control."

Mark faltered, looking at her with wide eyes. "Wh-what?"

"You were just someone that thought low of themselves, which made it easier for me to take control. Most of the "great" things you did were because of me. And when you did have control, it didn't always end well." She sighed, noticing the hurt expression on Mark's face. "Look, Mark you just aren't enough, okay? I really don't want to make you feel even worse about this, but if you weren't able to do that on your own, how can you help us with this?"

Mark hugged his torso, looking up at her in confusion. "Us?"

A hand touched the back of Mark's head, making him jump. Just as he was about to speak, Ryan's voice echoed through his head.

**_Sleep, it'll be okay.._ **

Mark's eyelids fluttered shut as he slumped forward, Ryan catching him and gently guiding him to the floor. Mark tried to fight his influence, but it was too strong.

**This is for the best Mark, I promise.**

And he was out.

—————————————

"Mark!"

Mark slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the soreness in his body. Dan was looking down at him, his hand on Mark's forehead. His eyes were darker than usual, meaning he was using his powers. After a few seconds he scowled, pulling his hand away from Mark's face and standing. "They weren't kidnapped, they left us to look for Cry on their own."

Mark stood up and looked around the room. Everyone was gathered, all looking as equally shocked as he felt. Jack glanced at Mark worryingly, raising an eyebrow as he gave him a thumbs up. Mark nodded, giving a thumbs up back.

Felix scoffed. "Well what the hell?! They just leave us here to die?!" Matt shook his head. "No, they just don't think we're capable, they don't think I'm capable.." He stared down at the floor, looking disappointed.

Nate frowned, placing a hand on his shoulder supportingly. "No one says we have to stay here, we can leave and go after them as well."

Jonathan nodded. "Besides, Matt knows where Cry is located, we can find a better route there. Minx and Ryan only have a vague idea."

Again, Matt shook his head. "They are both telepathic and can recognize Cry's mind. For all I know they could've moved Cry or they could've lied to me in the first place. They could've messed with my mind even more than just making me believe Cry was evil or that my friends were dead. God! It's no wonder they didn't trust me enough to bring me-" He placed a hand over his mouth, blinking back tears.

"Bullshit." Dan growled, bringing everyone's attention to himself. "They trust you, they're just afraid of losing you. And they're not the only fucking telepaths. I can get us on one of the ferries to France, and then we can split up there and meet back up in Italy. We are all capable of doing this, and we will."

The others stared at him in silence, only for Felix to break it. "Holy shit! Dan is being positive for once?!"

"I just want to get to Cry so we can demolish that facility and murder that bastard of a Prime Minister Churchlin."

"Alright, that's more normal."

Matt wiped the tears from his eyes, smiling. "Okay! Well, then we should probably start packing. Can't take everything, just the bare necessities. Dan, can I work with you on a route?"

Rolling his eyes, Dan nodded.

"Great! Then let's go!" He walked off with Dan into the living room, snatching a map from a kitchen drawer. Anthony, Jonathan, Evan and Felix all immediately went to grabbing food. Mark tensed slightly as Jack grabbed his arm to lead him to the bedroom so they could pick out what clothes they were going to bring.

As Jack pointed out which jacket would hide Mark's wings best and gathered materials to create a makeshift eyepatch, Mark couldn't help but think back to Minx and what she said.

_If I'm being honest, all you were was someone that I was able to control._


	7. -Six-

Mark tapped his fingers against his thigh as he continued to pack for their trip to Italy. Minx's words were still very much in the back of his head, but after replaying them over and over he was able to realize that she didn't really mean those awful things. She just didn't want Mark to risk his life alongside hers and Ryan's.

Still, it did make him angry. Did she honestly not think that he and the others could handle themselves? They all had amazing powers, some of them maybe even stronger than Minx and Ryan's. Nate himself was able to paralyze basically everyone back at the facility.

Well, maybe she did think they were capable, but she didn't want to risk it anyway? It was honestly kind of hard to tell what she really felt.

Mark felt someone tap his shoulder, and he turned to see Jack smiling softly at him, his green eye covered by an eye patch. Mark smiled back. "Hey."

Jack tapped the backpack that Mark was filling, seemingly asking what was inside. Mark thought back on what he had placed in it. "Well, I have an extra change of clothes, all warm, since it's still going to be relatively cold in both France and Italy. Aaand I grabbed some cans of food for the trip. Probably the less we have to stop the better." As Jack gave a thumbs up in approval the door into the room opened.

"Hey!" Felix walked in, grinning widely. "We were able to find when the next ferry leaves. It'll be later tonight, so we need to finish packing ASAP!"

"Already done." Mark leaned back, his wings expanding proudly. Jack nodded as he pointed to himself as well.

Felix nodded. "Alright, looks like you're not slackers. You might want to get some sleep now though. We're traveling all of tonight, and tomorrow."

"Thanks for the heads up." Mark zipped up the backpack and stood. Jack stood as well, nodding his thanks to Felix.

"No problem, but get some sleep! Especially you." He points at Mark. "Mr. Last-one-to-fucking-wake-up."

Mark rolled his eyes, laughing. "Hey! I woke up before Jack yesterday."

"That's ONE day. Come talk to me when it's consistent." Felix snapped his fingers sassily, causing all of the boys to laugh. Sighing, Felix waved at them. "Sleeeep!" He left the room.

Mark lay on his bed, looking over at Jack just as he was placing his BSL book in a bag. Mark frowned. "Are you sure you don't want to tell him? I'm sure he wouldn't be upset, he seems like he'd learn for you."

Jack bit his lip, shrugging as he zipped up his own bag. He then faced Mark and lifted his thumb up. After that he opened his hands with the palms facing inwards and moved them down in front of his body to finish horizontal. _Goodnight_.

Mark smiled. "Night." And despite everything, he was out within minutes.  
  


———————————  
  


A hand gently shook Mark's shoulder, waking him up from a dreamless sleep. He glanced up to see Nate looking down at him. "We're leaving."

Nodding, Mark stood up. He walked over and grabbed both his backpack and the large jacket that Jack had given him to cover his wings. Thankfully the zipper worked on this one. He didn't want a repeat of last time. Mark pressed his wings against his back as he put the jacket on. It was a little over-sized for him, the hem ending past his hips and the sleeves covering some of his palm. That meant he didn't have to restrain his wings too tightly though, so he was grateful. He knelt down and grabbed his backpack, placing it over his shoulders and carefully around his slightly-smushed wings. He didn't want to irritate them more than he had to.

After the others had woken up and grabbed their things, they gathered around the kitchen table, looking over a map.

Dan pointed at a spot. "This is us." He then pointed at another spot, further down. "This is the port for the ferry. It leaves in a half hour, and it'll take us about twenty minutes to get there. We cannot use ours powers on the way down to the ferry, otherwise we might get discovered and end up stuck here."

Matt let his finger trail down a route to the port, speaking as he slid his finger across the map. "Our best bet is to take this route around the marketplace so as to avoid people. None of us have passports or identification with us, and odds are those papers with our descriptions and pictures may be released already. So our best chance at getting on the ferry is for Dan to take control of as much of the border patrol as possible so the rest of us can get on."

Dan nods. "And once we're on the ferry, we can't interact with anyone. I can try to control some of them for the duration of the ride if they get too suspicious, but they aren't going to forget us."

Matt folded the map and put it in his jacket pocket. "Okay, we should get going." He walked out the door, glancing once more at the interior of the apartment before exiting. The others followed suit.

Outside the sky was dark and the air was chilling. Thankfully everyone had dressed in warm layers of some sort. And there also weren't many people out, which made the entire process easier. The group traveled through the mostly empty streets with no trouble. An occasional homeless man would glance at them for a moment, as if sizing them up. They would of course head in another direction after realizing that they most likely couldn't singlehandedly take down a large group of young men.

Soon the port was in view. Matt motioned for the others to stop beside a building right before the port. He pointed to a ferry. "That one is the one we're getting on. Just let Dan lead the group, and while he distracts the main patrol we can board."

Dan wordlessly shuffled to the front of the group. After glancing around the port and seeing how many people were on watch, he seemed to have made up a game plan. He lead the group towards the two men who were letting people on the ferry.

One of the men narrowed his eyes at them all. "Hey, kids, we're not letting minors on without their parents."

Dan looked the man straight in the eyes. "Our parents are on board. You're going to let us on with them."

The man nodded, and before his coworker could protest, Dan glared at him, pulling him under his control as well. Dan then turned and nodded for the others to board.

Matt and Nate boarded first, then Anthony. Mark, Jack and Felix followed. Evan and Jonathan were right on their heels, very much wanting to leave The United Kingdom. Once he was sure everybody was on board, Dan followed right after. When he was on the ferry he turned back to the guards.

"This boat is full now, you will let no more people on and tell the crew to leave now."

Both of the guards nodded as one reached into his pocket and pulled out a walkie-talkie. After he alerted the crew he went to stand back at his post.

Dan waved the others off to find somewhere to sit or stand. "I have to stay right here so I can maintain control as long as possible." Anthony walked up and stood next to him. "I'll stay here with you." Dan nodded his thanks, going back to staring at the guards.

The group dispersed themselves among the ferry, knowing that staying in one place could draw too much attention. Jack lead Mark and Felix to a corner of the ferry that was furthest from people and overlooked the water.

Mark took it upon himself to cling to the railing as he tried not to stare at the water, opting instead for the floor. He probably would've continued staring at it if it weren't for Jack tapping his shoulder and drawing his attention.

"What?" Mark asked. Jack smiled softly as he pointed to the sky.

And then Mark looked up.

Stars. So many stars. Mark hadn't had any time to appreciate the beauty that was the night sky since before he came to the facility. He could even recognize some of the constellations.

His grip on the railing loosened as he tried to remember the names of them.

As he stared at the sky above, Mark found his thoughts drifting to his mom and his brother. Maybe they were able to see the stars. Maybe they were okay.

The rest of the ride to France was relatively smooth. Over an hour though, which did result in some heavy sea-sickness among the group-and by among the group it was basically Matt-but the important part was that no one seemed aware that there were numerous mutant teens on the ferry.

Felix's laughter finally brought Mark's attention away from the stars. "We made it!" The next port was visible, and a blue, white and red flag fluttered in the wind.

Finally the ferry had reached its port in Dieppe, France.


	8. -Seven-

The thick clouds of smoke surrounding the docks were unpleasant. Mark found himself bringing the collar of his jacket up and over his nose so he could breathe easier. He was standing with the others outside of a butcher shop that appeared to be closed, listening as Matt spoke.

"Well, we made it, but we still have a long time until Italy."

Felix narrowed his eyes. "We're not doing it all on foot, are we? I mean I could do it, but with you guys it would take us over a week.."

Matt shook his head. "I wasn't able to actually get a map of all the train stops, but I doubt there is one that could take us from here straight to Italy. Our best bet is to get to Paris. There has to be a train there that could take us to the Italian border."

Anthony frowned. "How long would it take to walk to Paris?"

After thinking for a moment Matt spoke. "I'd say about thirty-four hours if we didn't stop, closer to two or three days if we did."

"We should just take a train to Paris. It's faster." Felix said.

Dan's monotone voice spoke up, annoyance lacing his tone. "They're going to be even more observant about who gets on the trains here, especially since almost everyone using them has just come in from other countries. Paris won't be a walk in the park either, but there will be more people, so we won't stand out as much."

Matt nodded. "It's settled then. We'll walk to Paris, and then we'll take the train to Piedmont." He looked out at the different people walking around the docks. "We can't really travel all together, but if we do groups of three and just stagger ourselves through the crowd, we should be able to get through here without being noticed or really separated."

The others hummed or nodded their agreement. Matt headed out first, accompanied by Nate and Dan. After a few moments Evan, Jonathan and Anthony went out together. Mark, Felix and Jack then walked into the crowd, making sure they still had their friends in their view.

As the group walked further away from the border the crowd thinned out, numerous people heading towards the train station. More room to breathe.

"So," Felix said, finally feeling they had enough space to talk, "That guy by the fruit stand sure seems to be interested in us."

Mark darted his eyes to his eyes to the side, seeing a man dressed in a burgundy fall jacket. He had a satchel over his shoulder, and was smiling as he spoke to the street vendor.

Mark looked at Felix. "He might just be heading the same way as us." The man stood and started walking down the street again.

Frowning, Felix tugged Mark towards himself and Jack. "Stay close."

They kept walking, and eventually the man was out of sight. Most people had thinned out, and a sign displaying that they had just entered Rouxmesnil-Bouteilles hung above their heads. They still had a long way to go.

Felix groaned. "I'm starving. How about you guys?" Jack nodded while Mark hummed in agreement.

"Let's stop for a moment, find somewhere to eat." Felix stopped walking and began looking at the area around them to find a spot. Jack stopped next to him.

Mark frowned, stopping as well. "Shouldn't we tell the others?"

"They'll notice we're gone. I bet they're starving too." His eyes landed on a few benches outside of a thrift store. Smiling, Felix lead the trio over and sat down. Jack and Mark followed suit, each pulling off their backpacks.

Felix had already opened and devoured half a can of peaches when Jack and Mark each decided to split a can of green beans. He spoke as he chewed. "Wait you're actually rationing?"

Mark nodded. "I mean, we should be careful. We don't really have a ton of money with us, and most of it we're saving for if we have to rent a room." Jack nodded in agreement.

Shrugging, Felix wiped some juice from the corner of his mouth. "Worst case scenario, stealing is always an option."

"We're trying not to get caught."

"I wasn't caught! I could do it again if I had to. In fact," he stood, cracking his knuckles. "I'll do it right now."

Jack frantically shook his head, patting the spot on the bench where Felix was previously sitting. Felix smirked, waving his hand dismissively. "It'll only take a few seconds." He crossed the street, heading towards a stand that was selling fresh produce.

Crossing his arms, Jack glared at Felix. Mark sighed, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I know you're pissed, so am I, but I don't think Felix is really dumb enough to think that using his powers in a public place will turn out alright. He'll probably just try to be sneaky and get scolded by the vendor when it fails."

Jack nodded, looking unsure still. He brought his left hand up, palm open, and formed a fist with his right hand. He then softly hit his palm with his fist, pointing at Felix. _He's dumb._

After thinking over what Jack had signed, Mark nodded. "Yeah, but he wouldn't endanger us."

Mark offered Jack the last of the green beans, which he gratefully took. They watched Felix in silence as he tried to sneakily grab some fruit while the vendor was being distracted by someone else. It was then that a man walked up to their bench, smiling.

Both Jack and Mark immediately recognized him as the same man who was supposedly 'following' them earlier. They looked up, forcing small smiles back. No need to look suspicious when they didn't know if he knew what they were.

The man spoke to them in French, the tone of his voice indicating that he was asking a question. Mark scratched the back of his neck. "We um, can't speak French." He blushed after saying it, realizing that the man probably couldn't understand him.

Shaking his head, the man spoke again. "No worry, I speak English as well, France is a very bilingual country." He laughs. "You sound American, are you from there?"

Mark nodded wordlessly. The man smiled. "Ah, I understand your wanting to leave the country. I've visited America before, and no offense, but I don't plan on visiting again."

Mark nodded again. "Y-yeah, things aren't the greatest there." He was trying to be polite, the guy didn't seem bad. Still, he'd rather not talk to strangers, no matter how nice they appear.

The man pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. "So, what I was asking was why you seemed to be traveling without any parents. You all seem very young."

Mark glanced up at him. "All?"

The man nodded. "You two and your friend stealing some apples over there." Jack tensed, standing up and throwing his backpack on. The man waved his hands. "I don't care, I've gone through struggles myself." He let out a large puff of smoke, glancing at Jack's eyepatch. "I don't judge others, I've done things I'm not proud of. But I'm alive."

Felix was walking back, his eyes narrowing at the sight of man. Mark stood then, putting his backpack on as well. "Well, um, we need to get going-"

The stranger grabbed his arm, holding it tightly. "There's no need to be hasty. I'm not a threat."

Mark could smell the smoke in the man's breath. He was terrified. He remembered the homeless man from his home who had held him in the same position, his dirty nails digging into his jacket. Mark froze, his eyes unfocused.

He was snapped back to the present when Jack punched the man in the face, causing him to let go of Mark's arm. The man stumbled back for a moment before glaring at Jack, a bruise forming on his jaw. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

A blur and the man was sent sprawling back. Felix stood in front of Mark and Jack, glaring at the man he had just shoved back. He wasn't there a second ago, he was across the street.

He used his powers.

"Mutant! He's a mutant!" A lady shrieked from across the street. People began to move towards them. The man on the ground pushed himself up, staring at Felix with curious eyes.

Felix looked around before swearing under his breath. He turned and faced Mark. "I'm sorry."

Mark furrowed his brow. "W-what?"

Felix picked Jack up and bolted, his form nothing but a blur, leaving Mark behind. Someone pointed at Mark. "He might be one of them." They walked forward.

Mark backed up into the bench behind him, tripping over it and landing on his back. Pain rocketed up his spine. He pushed himself up, staring at the people slowly starting to notice him.

It was just like before.

His body trembled as he ran.


	9. -Eight-

Every fiber of Mark's being told him to just rip off his jacket and fly. Let his wings spread and carry him to safety. Leave while he still had a chance.

But his wings would eventually tire, and he'd have to stop.

And then he'd be taken again.

So his only other option was to continue running in the alleys behind buildings, a few men following close behind. Thankfully it wasn't a crowd. Most of the people back by the street were too focused on Felix to actually give Mark any mind. The only worry now was three men who had nothing better to do than chase a supposed mutant down a street. Mark wasn't exactly relieved by this knowledge, especially since if they did catch him there was no telling if he'd be able to escape.

Unfortunately, the area he was in was modeled similar to a village, complete with cobblestone roads. A particular protruding pebble managed to catch against Mark's shoe and trip him. He stumbled, but returned to running once he regained his footing.

"Mutant!" One of the men hollered. Mark picked up his pace, his heart pounding in his ears. Only a few yards ahead of him he saw a truck unloading crates behind a store. As a worker began piling a few of them onto a cart to wheel in, Mark ran by and shoved the whole thing to the ground, knocking the boxes in the way of the men chasing him.

One of the men completely fell down, and the other two stopped to help him up. Mark took this opportunity to round a corner, freezing when he saw it was a dead end.

They'd be there soon, he didn't have time to run back and look for another way. Mark hastily scanned his surroundings to find a place to hide. There wasn't exactly a large selection. Other than a dumpster and some old boxes stacked next to it, the alley was empty. He only had two options; try to stay hidden behind some empty boxes, or climb into the dumpster.

"Where is it?!"

They were getting closer. Mark bit his lip. There weren't enough boxes to completely cover him, which left only one option. Mark opened the dumpster, wrinkling his nose at the disgusting odor. He reluctantly climbed inside and shut the top.

The voices were louder now. They were in the alley. Mark burrowed underneath the trash in case they tried to look inside the dumpster. He held his breath.

There was an audible creak as the top of the dumpster was opened. Mark squeezed his eyes shut and kept perfectly still under the piles of rotted food and old items.

After what was probably the longest moment of his life, the top creaked shut. The voices outside of the dumpster faded away.

Once he was sure he was safe, Mark shoved the trash off of himself and opened the top again, breathing in fresh, non-putrid air. It wasn't as disgusting as the sewers, so he could bare through the stench. Still, it didn't mean he particularly enjoyed it.

Mark climbed out of the dumpster and brushed himself off. Now that he was relatively safe, he had to find the others.

Where the hell could they be? Mark frowned as he walked out of the alley and onto the street. Nobody really noticed him, which was perfect. He made his way down the street, glancing at signs in confusion. Nothing made sense, he had no idea where anything was.

Right now he really was alone.  
  


——————————————  
  


Felix ignored the voice in his head screaming for him to turn back. He ignored Jack's hands smacking his chest in an attempt to make him stop. He even ignored Dan's voice when he passed by the other mutants.

He didn't stop until they were far outside the town, near a more rural area. They were in a park with no people around them. A safe spot. As soon as Felix halted, Jack pulled himself away, glaring at him.

Felix held his hands up defensively. "Look, I know-"

He was cut off by Jack's hand slapping him across the face.

"Ow!" Felix rubbed his stinging cheek. "Just listen! I couldn't carry you both."

Jack's eyes bore into Felix's. He moved his hands in an elaborate series of gestures that Felix couldn't understand. "What the fuck? Is that sign language? When did you learn that?"

Snarling, Jack flipped Felix off, knowing fully well that he could understand that gesture. He then took off his bag and rifled through his belongings, pulling out a notepad and a pen. He scribbled out some words before shoving the notepad in Felix's face.

_"So you fucking left him? You left him by himself with a crowd of people that could hurt him?!"_

Felix shoved the notepad back. "I'm not the one who fucking punched that guy. If it weren't for you doing that I wouldn't have had to step in. Also, why the fuck did you punch him? Where did you think that would go?"

Jack wrote some more down, his pen cutting into the paper with how hard he was writing. Once he was done he showed Felix.

_"It might not have been the smartest thing, but there was no way I was going to let that creep do anything to Mark. Also, at least I just used my fist. You took it upon yourself to fucking sprint across the street with your powers. And not only that, but you left Mark by himself. We need to go back!"_

After he read the paper, Felix shook his head. "They'll be looking for us, we just have to hope the others find him."

Disbelief was evident on Jack's face. He punched Felix in the arm, his mouth forming the words _"take us back"_ as he made no sound. Felix kept shaking his head as he grabbed Jack's fists. "If we go back now we'll just risk getting caught ourselves. Besides, Mark was living out here a few months ago, he should know how to handle himself. He probably has a better chance out here than the rest of us."

Jack glared hard at Felix for a moment, his eyes seemingly cutting into his soul. Felix felt terrifyingly small under his glare. Finally Jack looked away, yanking his arms out of Felix's grip.

There were people looking at them. Thankfully it was just a nosy couple of girls who were staring and pointing, giggling as they whispered in French. The girls only saw a couple of boys around their age, not mutants.

Still, it would be best to get out of the park and near the street, that way they could catch Mark or one of the others once they made it up there. Felix tried to grab Jack's hand, but before his fingers could even touch his sleeve Jack started moving forward without him.

Ouch.

Sighing, Felix followed Jack towards the street, hoping that Mark would get there in one piece.


	10. -Nine-

The smell of roasted coffee beans wafted through the air inside the small café. Dan stared down at the ceramic mug in his hand, the warmth of the coffee he had bought spreading through his frigid palms. As he sat down at the table Nate and Matt had chosen, he felt his mind racing. The café was full of people trying to avoid the cold weather, and their thoughts were clouding Dan's already-throbbing mind. Eventually Matt spoke up.

"And you're sure that you can't read their thoughts anymore?" Matt asked.

Dan nodded, the worry evident on his face. "I have a wide range, but I haven't been able to detect even a sliver of their consciousness for nearly a half hour."

Nate shrugged. "Maybe they just stopped somewhere a while back and ended up a little bit behind? I mean Felix is with them, I wouldn't be surprised if he made them stop to goof off or something. They should probably be near us soon."

Shaking his head, Dan sipped on the coffee. "There's something wrong, I can feel it."

Matt sighed. "Alright, let the others know, you can still reach them, right?" Dan nodded. "They're not too far."

"Great, then we can work on looking for them. Once you're done with your coffee-"

"I'll just ask for a to-go cup so we can leave." Dan said as he stood and walked over to the counter. He would've rather spent some more time in the warm café, but he knew something bad must've happened. Just before he couldn't hear their thoughts anymore he could feel some unease from Mark and Jack. He ignored it then of course, especially since it was so faint. He should've done something then and there.

Mutant trafficking was a huge problem, one that Dan had been weary of even before he had been taken by Churchlin. Police tended to ignore missing person cases that involved mutants unless said-mutant was a suspect. (It seemed no matter what that history liked repeating its discriminatory self). Countless mutants were taken from the streets everyday, and most of them were young.

Dan knew what types of people to avoid, but he had also been out on the streets with Phil not too long ago. Felix and Jack, however, had practically grown up in captivity. They wouldn't know what to look out for, how to fend for themselves. Mark was the only one who had actually been out of the facility before the past few months, but Dan had been inside his head a little, and he already knew that Mark was lucky he hadn't been taken any earlier.

Dan thanked the barista as she poured the remainder of his coffee into a to-go cup. He then glanced out the window, noticing that the sun would be setting soon. They needed to find them, and fast. No mutant should be out at night.

Dan, Matt and Nate walked out of the café together, heading back the way they had came. A few people looked their way, although no one dared to get near them. And even if they thought about it, Dan managed to make them reconsider approaching.

They walked for almost twenty minutes before they stopped outside of a store for Matt to use the restroom. As Dan and Nate waited patiently outside of the store, a few disgruntled looking men walked by. One of them barely brushed by Dan, nearly making him drop his drink. Dan glared at him before taking a sip of his coffee, deciding to read the guy's thoughts and maybe mess with him a little. Whatever happened next was the guy's own fault for being so rude.

_Stupid mutant. We almost had him.._

Dan's eyes narrowed. Curious, he dove a little deeper into the man's head, sifting through his recent memories. A few images appeared of an alley and a dumpster. And someone running-

 _Mark_.

The cup fell from Dan's limp hand. Coffee splattered across the sidewalk. Nate grabbed Dan's arm. "Dude what's wrong?" He whispered.

Dan said nothing as he glared at the back of the man whose thoughts he was previously invading. His voice was strong and menacing as it sounded in the man's head.

**_Where._ **

A demand, not a question.

The man froze for a moment, completely at Dan's whim. Without hesitation, a location appeared in the man's mind. Dan released him from his control and started heading down the street.

"Dan?" Nate called after him as Matt walked out of the store, confused. They quickly followed.

Dan's brisk walk slowly turned into a run as he neared the location of the memory. It was way further back than he would have wished. Eventually he had made it to the dead end where the thugs last looked for Mark. He checked the dumpster, some hope still in him when he saw that there were no bodies in there.

"Dan!!" Nate and Matt were there within moments, confusion evident on their faces. "Why did you run?"

"I read that guy's mind. He was chasing Mark down the street with a few other men. They saw him turn down this alley but they lost him. I checked the dumpster because it seemed like the only place he could hide. I'm just hoping he didn't try flying away. That could've drawn too much attention."

Matt walked over towards the dumpster and peered inside. His nose scrunched up a bit in thought as his eyes scanned over the trash. After a moment he nodded, looking back to the others. "He was hiding in here, and left once the men were gone."

Nate narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that?"

"Well," Matt pointed into the trash. "The trash is compacted slightly, like a weight has been there previously. And if that isn't convincing enough for you." He reaches into the garbage, shuffling his hand around for a bit before pulling out a long pink feather.

"This should be evidence enough."

Sighing, Dan looked down the alley. "So, we know he hid, we just don't know where he went after. I'll let the others know to be on the lookout around this area."

He hoped they'd have more luck.

——————————————-  
  


"Please? I just need directions.."

Mark was standing outside of a floral shop. He had put enough distance between himself and the men from earlier that he felt safe enough to stop looking over his shoulder. Well, not completely, but a little less than before. Now he had to address the issue of finding out where he was. He asked a few people inside the floral shop for directions, but most didn't understand him, or were pretending not to just so he would leave. Eventually, however, he found an older woman outside of the shop that spoke perfect English. She seemed to be wearing very expensive clothing. The woman blinked, her face slowly turning into a scowl. "Directions?! First time I've heard that! Most of you delinquents just grab my purse and run."

"I would never-"

"Get out of here before I call the police."

Although her comment was annoying, Mark could understand her caution. No one really helped each other out anymore. Usually it was because they didn't really have anything to spare, but sometimes it was also out of fear. People fought in the streets over scraps of food or blankets. To a frail old lady, anyone could be a menace.

Still, Mark needed directions.

"I'm really sorry, but I got separated from some people I was traveling with. They actually know the language better than I do. I just need some directions to this one place we were going to travel through. Les Grandes.. Ve..." Mark bit his cheek as he tried to recall the name of the place on the map.

The woman tilted her head. "Les Grandes Ventes?" Mark nodded. "Yeah!"

"There is a cab service not too far from here."

Mark scratched the back of his neck. "Ah, well, um, I can't really do that.."

The woman scoffed. "No money either?"

"Well, not no money, but I need to save it for a room to rent with my friends. We didn't come with a lot, so I'm kind of penny pinching."

If the lady didn't seem suspicious before she definitely did now. Her eyes were taking in his dirty, oversized jacket that obviously wasn't originally his, and the messy hair. Mark didn't realize until then how suspicious he actually looked.

Just before she could reply, a wave of nausea hit Mark, causing him to fall to his knees.

"What- oh my god, are you alright?" The woman's voice sounded more concerned. Mark opened his mouth to reply, only to double over.

 _What was going on?!_ Mark hugged his abdomen as pain rocketed up his spine. His wings pressed firmly against his back as he started coughing. He was so out of it that he didn't even register the hand on his forehead, nor did he hear the old woman calling for someone.

Sleep tugged at his eyelids. Mark looked away from the woman and at the people around. He knew that this wasn't happening for no reason. Someone was doing it.

His eyes fell upon a girl that was across street standing by herself. Her eyes were zoned in on Mark. Using what little strength he had left, Mark stared back at her.

Images flashed in his head of cages, cells, an arena. The girl shook her head and quickly walked away, stopping the onslaught of horrific pictures.

A pair of strong arms managed to catch Mark before he could fully collapse.


	11. -Ten-

"Look I know you're ticked, but at least communicate with me."

Felix stared at Jack as he awaited a response. They were standing outside of a small hotel, deciding to go ahead and book a room for the group. It was only going to get colder, and as pricey as buying a room was, it would be far better than freezing to death outside.

Jack glanced at Felix before looking away again.

Sighing, Felix handed the receptionist all of the money he had, barely covering the room. Actually, he was a few euros short, but the lady at the desk seemed to take pity on both him and Jack. She gave them a room key and waved them off.

They walked down the hall until they reached their room. After struggling with the key for a few moments, Felix finally managed to open the door.

It was... not exactly the cleanest. The wallpaper was peeling, and there were a few stains on the carpet. Jack, despite his very present anger, remained close to Felix when he started questioning the dark brownish-red stain near the corner of the room. There were only two beds, and relatively small ones at that. The blankets looked uncomfortable, and after touching them Felix could confirm that they were itchy and thin.

At least it was warm.

"Alright, once the others get nearer, Dan should be able to tell where we are. For now we can try and relax." Felix forced a small smile to try and ease Jack's obvious fear. Jack's eyes stayed on the stain as he walked over to a bed and sat down. He took his bag off of his shoulders and began to sift through it.

Felix sat on the other bed, knowing that if he sat next to Jack he might just get up and move. He opened his own bag and pretended to look for something.

They were quiet.

Felix absolutely hated the silence. Every single second of it. He wasn't going to break it though. No, he knew better than that. An apology at this point was futile. Anything else he would attempt would just anger Jack and start an argument. The silence, as terrible as it was, was far better than the alternative.

There was a knock at the door. Felix walked over and answered it. Some idiotic part of him was hoping that it was Mark himself, alive and well. Maybe he would punch Felix in the face. Then Felix could apologize. Then they would all make up. It'd be fine.

The sight of a maid holding a stack of more itchy blankets pushed down Felix's hope. "Here, for when your friends arrive." She plopped them in his arms and left.

Felix shut the door and placed the blankets on a bed. Jack was scribbling in a notebook.

Curious, Felix walked over and sat beside him. He leaned in to see what Jack was writing.  
Jack quickly pulled the notebook to his chest, glaring harshly at Felix.

 _"_ What? You're still not talking to me?"

Jack turned a page in the notebook and scribbled harshly onto the paper. He then tore it out of the notebook and thrusted it towards Felix.

_"Are you seriously asking that?"_

Felix crumpled up the paper and tossed it back at Jack. "I am sorry! Okay? I could only carry one of you, and there is no fucking way that I am going to leave you behind!" He balled his hands into fists, taking a step towards Jack.

"Do you think I don't feel like garbage for this? If I could have taken you both I would have, but I couldn't. Can't you just accept that I'm sorry?"

They stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Jack wrote something down, pressing the pen lightly against the paper as he glanced up at Felix every now and then. He then ripped out the piece of paper and held it out to Felix. Felix stared at it for a moment before snatching it out of Jack's hands, reading it.

_"Saying sorry doesn't fix this. You left him. You left him with a crowd of horrible people. There could have been something. You didn't have to use your super speed to leave. We could've found somewhere safe to hide. There had to be another way."_

"But it was the only way that I would know for sure that you would be safe." Felix stated, slightly calmer than before. Jack furrowed his brow before writing once more, scribbling stuff and rewording as he went. Instead of ripping the paper out he just showed it to Felix.

_"That doesn't give you the excuse to just leave him like that. He is a person, and he helped us escape. He doesn't deserve to have anything like this happen to him. No one does and you know that."_

Felix bit his cheek, looking away from the paper and into Jack's hard stare. "I know it was bad, but there is nothing we can do about it now."

Jack's eyes watered a bit before he threw the notebook at the wall. It hit the decaying wallpaper surprisingly hard, sounding as if he had just punched it with his own fists. Felix flinched, then turned back to see Jack climbing into the bed, throwing an itchy blanket around himself.

"Jack?" Felix waited for an answer. Jack stuck a hand out to flip Felix off before quickly pulling it back under the blanket.

Sighing, Felix gave up. "Fine, get some rest. I'm going to check and see if the others are here." More silence.

Felix walked out of the room, making sure to slam the door a little to relieve himself of some of his agitation. Once he was in the lobby he stood by the wall, occasionally glancing out the window.  
  
People would walk in and out of the hotel, all of them looking worse for wear. Some could pay the fines, others were told to leave. A man with two girls in his arms caught Felix's attention. He was shouting at the lady behind the front desk in French, his face red from anger. The woman shook her head repeatedly, speaking to him in a calm tone. Eventually she said something that caught the man's interest, shutting him up. She wrote down something on a piece of paper and handed it to him. He looked at his girls, then back at the lady. He nodded, setting his daughters on the ground.

The littlest girl grabbed him by the end of his thin jacket. "Papa?" The father looked down at his daughter, smiling sadly. He kneeled down and kissed her forehead, and then the other girl's. He said something that Felix couldn't hear (though it didn't matter, because he couldn't understand much French). The two girls hugged their father tightly, shouting things at him. Eventually the man managed to pry them off of himself, allowing the lady at the front desk to grab their hands. They struggled against the lady's grip as she walked them away from the father and down the hall. The man sighed, exiting the hotel.

Felix was watching so intently, he didn't even notice the hand on his shoulder. "Felix! Dude!"

"Wha-" Felix turned and saw Jonathan staring at him with a confused expression. "I waved at you, and then I literally called your name. You were so zoned out."

"Y-you saw that, right?" Felix asked. Anthony walked up, Evan close behind. "You saw how that man just left his kids, right?"

Evan sighed. "Yeah, I forgot they did that in the EU." Felix glanced at him questionably. "Did what?"

"Oh!" Jonathan exclaimed. "That's right, you were stuck in that lab since you were a kid. Well, I found out about it only a few years ago, but apparently the EU put a law into place that makes it so that kids can be given shelter when they don't have any. Parents just have to give proof that they were born here, like picture ID's. The thing is though, it's only for the kids. They won't shelter the parents."

Felix glanced back at the now empty receptionist desk, frowning. "That's... really sad." Jonathan shrugged. "Hey, it's the parents choice, and they really do just want what's best for their kids, even if it means they won't be with them."  
Anthony tilted his head. "Hey Felix, aren't Mark and Jack with you?"

Felix shifted on his feet. "Jack is."

"What about Mark?"

"Can we talk about this in the room?"

Anthony nodded, exchanging glances with Evan and Jonathan. Felix lead them back to the room, and they walked in. Once the door was closed, he spoke.

"Don't freak out. Dan and the others have to have found him by now."

Anthony's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"Some people had found out we were mutants, and they started closing in. I grabbed Jack and ran-"

"You left him?!" Jonathan cried, narrowing his eyes.

"I couldn't carry them both! I know it was fucking awful, but I didn't have a choice!"

There was silence in the room.The guys were staring at Felix with mixed expressions of shock and anger. Jack was still lying in bed, he hadn't moved since he had first lay down. Felix couldn't tell if he was actually asleep, or if he was just eavesdropping.

Finally, Anthony stepped forward and grabbed Felix by the wrist. His grip was far tighter than it should have been, but Felix knew that he was restraining himself. He could've easily snapped the bone if he had wanted.

"We are going to look for him. Right now." Anthony's face was grim. It didn't look right.

Evan nodded. "We're coming too."

"No." Anthony turned to look at the others, his voice low. "Stay here, we'll draw more attention to ourselves if we all go. We'll be back. With Mark." He emphasized the last part, his grip tightening ever so slightly.

Felix bit his cheek as Anthony lead him out of the room.


	12. -Eleven-

The dull throbbing in Mark's skull wasn't a surprise when he had awakened, his head had been messed with enough by telepaths that at this point the pain was expected.

What did surprise him, however, was waking up on a nice living room couch, a pillow beneath his head, and a blanket over his body. Cautiously, he sat up, cringing at the forming migraine in his head. He stretched his wings out-

 _Wait_.

Mark turned, seeing his jacket hanging over the other armrest on the couch right by his feet. Whoever had brought him here knew he had wings.

Yep, time to go.

Mark stood, stumbling a little at the dizziness. He steadied himself before grabbing his jacket and slipping it on over his wings.

The living room was...nice. Although, after being in a cruddy apartment for months, Mark had set the bar a little low for 'nice.' Beige walls were covered in family pictures. Other than the couch, the only other furniture in the room was a small coffee table and a large bookshelf. The bookshelf was packed with various books and magazines, all of them differing in genre. The coffee table in the center of the room had a picture of a little boy and girl standing next to each other sitting on top. They looked happy, and it made Mark think of Thomas.

He started walking towards the hallway, noticing how soft the carpeting felt underneath his socked-feet.

 _His jacket, and now his shoes?_ Sighing, Mark walked out of the living room and peered into the hallway.

The lights were on, but he didn't hear any voices. Quietly, he made his way down the hall, his footsteps softened by the carpeting.

And then he heard a door open.

 _Shitshitshitshit_ \- Mark frantically opened the door nearest to himself and ran inside, shutting the door softly behind him. He was in a closet, a very small one at that. His back was up against the wall, and his wings were squished against his skin. The footsteps came closer.

Mark bit his lip as the steps came closer, and closer.

"Grandma, where'd you put my boots?" A boy was speaking, he had to be around Mark's age, he sounded like it, at least.

"I think I left them in the closet. You grab them while I check on our guest." The same old woman from earlier, there was no mistaking her voice.

Why did she bring him there?

The door knob started to turn. Forget the shoes, Mark had to run.

As soon as the door opened, Mark shoved the boy back and bolted from the closet. He didn't even get a good look at him, he was in such a rush. As he ran though, he realized he had no idea where the front door was.

"Wait!" The boy was running after him now. Mark quickly scanned his surroundings. He only had a few rooms to choose from.

The boy was nearing. His footsteps were getting louder. In a hasty decision, Mark ended up heading into a random room and slamming the door shut. This door was able to lock as well, so he made sure to do so.

The door knob started jiggling. "Open the door!" Mark turned and looked around the room.

It appeared to be a young girl's room. There was a small bed in the corner, covered by a pink bed sheet with butterflies on them. A child-sized vanity sat against a wall to the left of the bed with a toy chest underneath it. What really caught Mark's attention, however, was the window.

He rushed towards it, staring out at the street below. They were a few stories up, in an apartment complex it seemed. There weren't any locks on the window, or any way to open it, for that matter. Ignoring the oddness, Mark tapped on the window, only to be confused as to why the glass seemed so thick. Why would the glass be so thick? He banged his fist against it. He'd break his hand if he tried to just punch his way through the glass.

He couldn't stay though. They knew he was a mutant. They probably called someone to take him away. To take him back to the facility.

He couldn't go back.

He _wouldn't_ go back.

Mark stood and walked over to the toy box. It wasn't too heavy for him to pick up, but it definitely had enough weight to break the glass. He heaved it into his arms and walked back to the window. He lifted it over his head, ready to throw it.

The door knob started to jiggle more vigorously. "Don't throw that chest!!"

Tensing, Mark lowered the toy box, placing it on the floor. He stared, wide eyed, at the closed door.

There was absolutely no way he could see him.

He had made almost no noise when he lifted the chest up, and a lucky guess seemed way too coincidental.

So...

"You're.." Mark didn't finish, still staring at the closed door.

The boy sighed on the other side of the door. "Please open the door so we can talk. We don't want to hurt you. We promise."

Mark stared at the door in silence for a few seconds before he walked over and unlocked it. It slowly creaked open, and the boy popped his head in. He was around Mark's age, maybe a year younger. He had blonde hair that was cut short, and blue eyes that were scrutinizing Mark. Once he saw that Mark had indeed left the chest on the ground, he opened the door fully, stepping inside.

"Hey, how's your head?" Mark bit his lip. In truth, it still hurt like a bitch, but he didn't feel like it was worth mentioning.

"Fine.." The look on the boy's face showed that he didn't believe Mark for a second. "Right. Well, my grandma made some soup. Are you hungry?"

Mark nodded slowly, his eyes drifting to the window. The boy smiled softly. "Doesn't make sense to fly out into the streets where everyone can see when you're supposed to be in hiding."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I was in hiding?" The boy smiled. "I would think someone with big pink wings wouldn't want to be exposed for everyone to see. Mutants aren't exactly welcome anywhere."

"So you're one as well? You were able to tell I was going to throw the chest, even though you shouldn't have been able to see me"

The boy sighed. "Yeah, I am. We can talk more, really, but just please come eat something first. My grandmother is worried."

Well, who can say no to food?

\-------------------------------------------------

"So, where exactly are you from Mark?" The woman asked, placing a bowl of soup in front of each of the boys.

"Ohio, America" He decided not to elaborate. They seemed nice, really. Mark felt like he could tell them more about himself, but he wasn't going to completely trust people he had just met.

He made that mistake once already.

The woman sat down with her own bowl of soup. She seemed far friendlier than before. "Definitely from far away then. Did your family move here for job opportunity? America has been taking the hit very harshly."

Tomato soup. Very hot tomato soup, Mark found when he tried to eat a spoonful. "Not exactly... we were invited to Brighton for a project involving mutants. I am the only mutant in my family, so I stayed in Brighton while the rest of them stayed in a hotel. That's what I was told at least. I don't really know what to believe anymore..."

Mark suddenly found interest in the upside down reflection of himself that was in his spoon.

"Well, you've introduced yourself, it only makes sense we do the same." The boy grinned. "My name is Robin, and this is my lovely grandmother, who you can call Mrs. Torkar. We're actually Swedish, but we moved to France because my grandmother found a job that pays well that she doesn't have to go to very often."

Mark forced a small smile back. "You're a mutant as well, right? What is it that you can do?"

Robin smiled. "Well, you know that I could see what you were doing, but I can't exactly see through walls. My ability is a type of psychic vision. I can peer into realities similar to ours, into their futures, and see events that will happen before they can. I saw you throwing that chest out the window and flying off. My sister's chest." He tapped his fingers against the table. "Sounds like sci-fi bullshit, but it's true."

"Robin!"

"Sorry grandma." Robin apologized before having some more soup.

Mark blew on his own spoonful before eating as well. "Oh, I guessed it was a little kid's room. Where is she though, if you don't mind me asking?"

Robin said nothing for a moment before glancing up at Mark. "The cemetery that's a mile downtown."

Mrs. Torkar sighed. "She is no longer with us, sadly. She passed many years ago. Robin was only six, she was eight."

Mark frowned. "I'm so sorry..." Robin smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry about, but thanks." He ate some more soup, looking like he did not want to continue speaking.

Luckily, Mrs. Torkar was more than willing to continue. "Mark, you say you had been traveling with friends? How did you get separated?"

Mark's wings tightened against his back, curling slightly around his sides. "Well, there were a lot of us, so we split up into groups of three and traveled some distances between each other so we wouldn't look suspicious. The group I was with stopped at this fruit stand.

This guy that had been following us was asking us a lot of questions, and he grabbed me. My friend hit him, and then the other member of our group used his superspeed in front of everyone to run up and shove the guy back.

Everyone was staring at us. They thought -knew- that we were all mutants. I thought we would try to just run and hide together, but then Felix -that guy who used his powers in front of everyone- picked up my friend and ran. He left me behind."

Mark's hand was shaking. Most of the soup that was previously in his spoon had already fell back into the bowl. Darn.

After a few moments of silence, Robin spoke up. "Are you sure you want to go back to them? They left you like that, with people that would club a mutant without question. Do you want to go back to people that would let that happen to you?"

Mark bit his cheek in contemplation. "I...they're not all like that. And I need them so we can go and find my family as well, and so we can free the other mutants."

"Free them?" Mrs. Torkar sat up straight. "What do you mean?"

"Well, that project for mutants I'm in. My friends and I escaped from the place they were holding us, but there were still so many others left behind. They experimented on us there. They did horrible things to us. It was terrible."

Mrs. Torkar placed a hand on her chest. "Those poor children."

Robin sighed. "There isn't much you can do about that. I know you don't want to hear that, you want to hear about how, once you're reunited with your group, you'll all be able to free the other mutants. I get that, I really do, but how realistic is that? Mutants are abused and treated in inhumane ways all the time, what would releasing them from this place do? Just prolong their pain? They're not going to be safe anywhere else either."

"Robin! Enough of that!" Mrs. Torkar's voice was strained. She sounded like she did before at the cafe.

"I'm literally just telling him the truth. What would lying do for him." He looked at Mark again. "I'm sorry, but why go back with people that left you for dead?"

Mark looked down at the table, Robin's words shocking him. "I..." He swallowed back tears. He wasn't going to cry in front of people he just met. It was getting annoying.

Mrs. Torkar stood. "That's enough Robin."

Robin stood as well, taking his empty bowl with him. "Mark, you're welcome to stay. Really." He walked over to the sink and rinsed his dishes off before placing them down and leaving the room.

Mrs. Torkar glanced at Mark. "Are you alright? I know Robin can be pessimistic at times, but I'm sure there is a way to help those other mutants."

The soup was definitely cold now. Mark nodded. "Yeah, it's just, a lot to think about." He stared down at his half-empty bowl.

It had never really crossed his mind just how monumental of a task saving the other mutants was. There are so many things working against him. Was it even actually possible to save the others? To find his family?

Mark's wings curled against his sides again as he ate another spoonful of soup.


	13. -Twelve-

Mark awoke to the blanket that he was using being ripped from his body. He looked up, seeing Mrs.Torkar standing near him, a plate of pancakes in one hand, and the blanket in the other.

"Good morning Mark. Will you join me in the kitchen for breakfast?"

Nodding, Mark stood. He followed Mrs.Torkar into the kitchen, sitting down in the chair she motioned to. He watched her shuffle around the kitchen for a moment, gathering silverware and cups and placing them on the table. "Do you need help?"

"No sweetie, just stay seated."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, you're a guest after all. Now please start eating those pancakes before the syrup makes them sag!"

Mark smiled a little at her nagging before taking a bite of his pancakes. They were, unsurprisingly delicious.

Mrs. Torkar glanced at the fridge. "Goodness, I'll have to call Robin and ask him to pick up some milk."

"He's not here?"

"Oh no, he went to go pick up some dry cleaning for me." Mrs. Torkar said, walking over with a glass of water. "Sorry, it's all we have."

"It's more than enough, thank you." Mrs. Torkar smiled as she sat across from Mark with her own plate of pancakes. They ate in silence for a few moments.

"Mrs. Torkar?"

"Yes?"

Mark looked around the room, at the classy-looking kitchen, and at the pictures lining up against the walls. "Why did you help me?"

Mrs. Torkar smiled sadly. "Well, I'm not just going to leave someone passed out on the street. Thankfully Robin was already there, since we had gone out to get coffee-"

"Sorry," Mark interrupted, "but you took me here, into your home. A stranger. Why didn't you just call an ambulance?"

"Originally we were just going to call an ambulance, but," her eyes went unfocused, alarming Mark.

"Robin had a vision, and he wouldn't tell me what it was, but he said that we had to take you home with us and help you there, not leave you with someone else. Now, I wasn't exactly keen on keeping a stranger in my home, but I trust my Robin so much. He has never lied to me about anything, and I know that whatever he saw concerning you was important enough for me to comply. When we brought you here and took off your jacket, well, I had a hunch I knew what the vision was concerning. Especially since now we know that there are awful people looking for you."

Mark smiled back. "Thank you for taking me in. It's really refreshing to meet someone who isn't so hateful towards mutants."

Mrs. Torkar sighed. "Yes, mutant haters are definitely prominent in most places, but there are many people who want mutants to be treated just like the rest of us. Equals." Mrs. Torkar glanced at her food. "After we're done eating would you like to watch a movie with me? I have no work to do today, and Robin has so many films."

Mark's smile brightened, a warm feeling filling his chest. "I'd like that."

\---------------------------------------

It was past noon by the time they had finished watching movies, tiredness evident in both of their expressions. Mrs. Torkar glanced at the clock, frowning. "Robin should be back by now, it's almost lunch." She walked over to the kitchen. Mark followed, concerned.

Mrs. Torkar dialed a number, holding the phone up to her ear. She waited, frowning when no one answered. "He always picks up."

Mark glanced at his jacket. "I could go out and look for him."

Mrs. Torkar shook her head. "No,no. You'll get lost around here, and there are people looking for you. You stay here. I will walk to the cleaner's myself." She grabbed her jacket off the coat rack, slipping it on. "I should be back shortly, Robin may have gone to visit Lilian."

"Lilian?"

"His little sister. Her grave, I mean." Her eyes focused on the corner of the room. "Sometimes he goes there and sits by her, losing track of time." Sighing, she slipped on her hat and gloves. "I will be back, do not let anyone in, we both have keys."

"Okay." Mark watched as Mrs. Torkar left. He stared at the door for a few moments.

Now what?

He bit his lip, looking around. Well, some of the shelves seemed dusty...

Mark stood up and walked to the bathroom, finding cleaning supplies. He went around the apartment, steering clear of the bedrooms for privacy's sake, and cleaned as much as he could. He also found a few of his own stray feathers, mortified. It was like losing hair, gross.

It only took an hour and a half for Mark to clean the apartment. There wasn't much to do besides dust and clean the windows. Eventually he found himself washing the dishes as well, just to fill the time.

It had been two hours since Mrs. Torkar had left now. Mark didn't really know if he should be worried, but he thought that at least one of them should be back. Where were they?

Another half hour passed, Mark having spent it reading a random magazine. Not very well, because it was in Swedish, but he looked at the pictures at least.

He was getting worried now. Neither of the Torkars had returned. Where were they?

Mark had had enough. He was going to look for them on his own. He stood up and quickly scribbled a note out saying that he was looking for them, just in case they made it back before he could find them, and left it on the kitchen counter. He slipped on his jacket, pressing his wings against his back again. Then, he walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

Somehow he had managed to get down the stairs and leave the apartment without meeting anyone. Once he was on the streets, no one really looked at him there either. He didn't know exactly where he was, but if he traveled in only one direction it would be easier to find his way back. At random, he chose to head to his left, following the sidewalk.

If it got too dark, he'd turn around and wait for them at the apartment.

Hopefully they were okay.

\----------------------------------------------------------

The sky was full of dark clouds, the threat of a storm _literally_ looming over their heads. Felix and Anthony were some of the few people actually out on the street. The buildings emitted light and promising warmth. Of course, Felix and Anthony had to be outside and freezing while they witnessed others being warm and happy.

Although, Felix knew he deserved every single breeze that sent chills down his spine.

He shouldn't have left Mark.

Still, there was no turning back time.

He glanced at Anthony out of the corner of his eyes every so often, his teeth chattering. It was definitely becoming winter. Before they knew it snow would be everywhere.

It had been a long time since Felix had seen snow.

He remembered it from when he was young, but he really, really wanted to see it now. If he saw it, he would truly feel like he had escaped.

Like he wasn't still stuck there somehow.

Anthony suddenly grabbed Felix by the arm, startling the other out of his thoughts. "What is it?" Anthony said nothing, staring across the street.

Felix looked at where Anthony's eyes were focused, a shiver running down his back at not just the cold, but also the sight of a girl across the street staring them down. Her eyes were scrutinizing their every feature. Felix felt like a specimen, again.

She took a step forward, seeming about to cross the street herself, only for her eyes to widen. Quickly, she retracted her foot, walking away from the two of them.

Felix furrowed his brow. "That was... weird." Anthony nodded. "She was heading the same direction as us for two blocks. It wasn't until now that I noticed she was staring at us too. Wonder what she was doing."

Shrugging, Felix gave a small smile. "Maybe she was going to mug us."

Anthony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, what was she, 5"5? And she was going to mug us."

"Hey, do not underestimate girls. Even if you're taller than them, they can kick ass. Minx always beat me in fights when we were younger. Without her powers!"

That got a small smile out of Anthony, and Felix felt a sense of pride. Even when he was obviously pissed, Anthony could not resist finding Felix amusing.

The smile was gone as soon as it came though, and Anthony's eyes widened. "Wait, is that Mark?" He pointed down the street, at a guy walking around the corner of a café, just out of sight.

Felix felt his heartbeat quicken. He was only able to catch a glimpse of him before he turned the corner. It looked like the same jacket.

"C'mon," Anthony said, picking up the pace as he went after Mark. Felix followed close behind, trying to keep himself from using his speed.

Was it him?

Actually him?

Was he okay?

Where did he go? How did he get past those guys?

A ton of questions that Felix might actually get the answer to.

Felix and Anthony managed to get past the corner and enter a narrow alley between the café and some random apartment complex. Both of them were barely able to contain their excitement as they noticed that the guy they had seen was most definitely Mark. He had stopped walking and was now speaking with two men behind the café, his back turned to the others.

"Mark!" Felix shouted, his voice cracking a little. He didn't realize that he was so worried about Mark until now. He could've gotten hurt, but he was _okay!_ He was here and he was _safe!_

Mark turned, his eyes wide as he saw Felix and Anthony only a few meters behind him. He didn't look happy though.

In fact, he looked terrified.

Felix didn't realize why, until he saw the gun that one of the men was holding.

Felix frowned, looking back to Mark.

The man holding the gun shot at Felix, barking at the other guy to call someone. On instinct, Felix bolted out of the way, managing to dodge the bullet.

Anthony looked around, seeing that no one else was in the alley. He ran over and placed his arms under a large dumpster, picking it up and heaving it up over his head, about to throw it.

Mark tried to run out of the way, but the man holding the gun grabbed him by the arm, twisting it behind his back and pulling him to his knees. Mark let out a cry, biting his lip as the gun was held to his head.

Eyes wide, Anthony placed the dumpster on the ground. The second man finished talking on his phone, nodding to the other. The man holding the gun glared at Felix and Anthony.

Felix's blood ran cold as he realized what was happening.

They were going to kill all three of them.

Felix had to do something. He glanced at the two men, his eyes focusing on the gun being held to Mark's head.

He was fast enough.

Anthony, already sensing what Felix was about to do, tried talking him out of it. "Do not take that chance Felix."

Mark looked at Felix with wide eyes. He looked terrified.

Felix then ran, shortening the meters between them in seconds-

And then the pain started.

It was like being hit the head with a truck, _repeatedly_. Felix collapsed to the ground, mere feet away from Mark. Pain rocketed in his skull. It was awful. He grinded his teeth in frustration as he tried desperately to move, only to retreat into himself.

"Felix!" Mark tried to pull away from the man holding him, but he was shoved face-first into the ground. Anthony tried to run towards them, only to collapse onto the ground in a similar fashion to Felix. Mark tried to force his wings to expand, but the jacket wouldn't rip.

The man holding Mark groaned, placing his gun in his pocket. He took out a syringe.

"N-no!" Mark cried out as the needle pierced his neck, the substance pushed into his veins.

Trembling, Felix forced himself to look at Mark, watching as his struggles slowly ceased.

"M-M-M-" Felix couldn't even form words, the pain was making it impossible. The man let go of Mark and walked over to Felix.

The sharp sting in his neck caused Felix to wince. He heard the man going over to Anthony. Anthony murmured something intelligible, and then he was out as well. The pain from before faded. Felix tried to push himself to stand, falling back on his rear immediately.

"Shouldn't he be out?"

"Might be a super speed thing, like quicker regeneration. Have the girl knock him out and we'll start transporting."

Footsteps sounded behind Felix's head, and he felt too hands on his face, turning him to look up. The girl from before was standing above him.

Before Felix could think of anything else, his consciousness was pulled from him.


	14. -Thirteen-

When Felix woke up, he had a disgusting taste in his mouth, the kind you get after being asleep for too long. Along with that, he felt like his entire body was being held down by a thousand bricks.

Felix looked around himself. He was in the back of what appeared to be a taxi, only the window separating himself from the driver was blackened. The windows on the side of the car were covered as well, so the only way that Felix could even tell that they were moving was by the subtle rocking he felt while lying down.

Fuzzy memories started coming back, and Felix started to tremble.

He was kidnapped, and the others were no where around him.

Panicked, he pushed himself up, nausea spreading throughout his body. He waited a moment for his dizziness to lessen before he started kicking the passenger side door. Terrified, he realized that he could not kick the door as fast as usual.

The car suddenly jerked to a halt, tossing Felix forward. He quickly got up, listening as his door began to open.

Once it was yanked open, a man grabbed Felix by his shirt collar.

"Let me go! Help!" Felix tried to land a punch on the guy, but once he saw the gun in his other hand, he froze.

"Finally, Christ," the man grumbled, tugging Felix out of the vehicle.

Felix landed face first into something cold. Shivering, he pushed himself up, noticing that the ground was covered in snow.

The sound of the safety being turned off the gun sent more chills down Felix's back. He turned around to see the barrel of the gun pointing at him.

He frantically shuffled back, trying to go faster. As soon as he stood, though, he fell back to the ground.

"We used almost our entire supply on just keeping you subdued. You're going to cost us far more than your worth. So, looks like we're going to have to get rid of you now."

Felix shook his head, hearing the words but not fully understanding them. His body and brain were still far too drugged.

The man opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could even get a word out, he heard a shout.

"Step away!"

"What?" The man snapped his head around, looking for who had shouted. Felix blinked away his dizziness as he attempted to see.

A girl stepped into the clearing, light brown hair cascading down her shoulders. She had a dirt-brown jumpsuit, and a very, angry expression on her face. "Step away!" Her voice was so high pitched, it took the malice away from the threat.

The man laughed. "What are you going to do about it?" He pointed the gun at the girl and fired.

Before the bullet could hit the girl, a huge block of snow-covered-dirt the size of a fridge rose from the ground, stopping the bullet from piercing her skin.

More blocks of dirt rose from the ground, and the man took a step back.

The girl tilted her head, and all of the blocks flew into the man, sending him sprawling into a tree. The blocks then molded together, forming a type of restraint as they held the man against the tree.

"What the fuck!?" He struggled, and the dirt didn't give.

The girl ran over to Felix and motioned for him to stand. He narrowed his eyes, groggily standing up and stumbling.

The girl seemed to notice his disorientation, so she snapped her fingers. More blocks of dirt appeared, but they were much smaller than the ones before. They were only the size of soccer balls.

The dirt wrapped around Felix's waist, lifting him into the air. They carried him alongside the girl as she ran further into the woods.

"Your name? What is it? Do you remember?" The girl spoke in between breaths as she jumped over the tree roots sticking out of the snow. Felix nodded, wiping his eyes. He was starting to feel more awake, but his movements were still sluggish.

"Felix, who are you?"

The girl smiled. "Marzia. Don't worry, I'm taking you somewhere safe."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Get up!"

Mark's eyes snapped open. He was facedown on what appeared to be a car floor. He looked up, seeing the same man who had pulled the gun on him previously.

"Are you deaf? Get your ass up." The man reached forward and grabbed Mark by his hair.

"Let go!" Mark's words came out slightly slurred, the effects of the drug having yet to fully wear off. The man growled as he yanked Mark out of the car and onto the ground. Mark pushed himself up and kicked the man in the shin.

The man cried out and Mark stood, quickly looking around.

Before him stood a large building made of bricks, iron bars on all the windows. It stood three stories tall, and gave off an ominous aura.

"Down on the ground mutie!" Mark turned to see the man pointing a gun at him.

Panicked, Mark threw his jacket off and spread out his wings as he flew into the air. Unfortunately the drugs were still heavy in his system, so Mark ended up leaning too far to his right and clipping his wing on a tree branch. He cried out before falling down into the snow. Shaking, he pushed himself off of his stomach and onto his knees.

Mark felt the barrel of the gun press against the back of his head and tensed.

"Stand up and walk forward. I will shoot you."

Mark shakily stood up, crossing his arms over his bare chest as he walked forward. The man moved the gun from Mark's skin as he started walking as well, confident that Mark wouldn't try to leave again. They stopped at the door into the building. The man hit a button besides the door.

_"Ciao?"_

The man cleared his throat and spoke back. _"È Marco, ne ho un altro."_

There was a buzz, and then the door opened. Mark bit his lip as he walked forward.

They walked down a long hall. People were walking up and down it, all of them appearing to be busy doing something. Some of them glanced at Mark, but they would go back to whatever they were doing as soon as they saw the wings.

"Stop," the man grumbled, causing Mark to stop right outside of a door. He turned to look back at the man. "Do, you want me to-?"

"Get in."

Nodding, Mark opened the door. The man gave him a firm shove inside before shutting the door. Mark flinched before looking around the rest of the room.

There was a table, with two chairs. In one of the chairs facing Mark, sat a woman. She was tall, with her hair tied in a tight bun, not a single strand out of place. There was no emotion in her face as she studied Mark.

"So, wings. Unique." Her voice was deep with a rich Italian accent. She motioned to the chair in front of her. "Sit."

Something about her made Mark realize that he shouldn't refuse. He sat down in the other chair, twiddling his thumbs. "Where am I?"

"In an old forest outside of Venice, Italy. The buildings here are under the Arena's control."

"Arena?"

"A type of game. You will be set to fight against other mutants, and our spectators will bid against who they believe will win."

Mark stood. "No! You can't make me!"

The woman said nothing, no surprise on her face. Then, she started to tap her fingers atop the table.

_Tap. Tap._

"You are not the first to say that, and you will not be the last."

_Tap. Tap._

"You will fight, because if you don't, we will just sell you."

_Tap. Tap._

"Most of the ones that we sell end up just being killed by the consumer themself. The others probably wish that they got that mercy."

_Tap. Tap._

"And if you think that I am bluffing, I have already sold one of your friends to a worker of mine. He took that mutant into the woods and shot him."

She stops tapping.

"So will you do as I say?"

Mark stared at the woman as his blood ran cold. _She killed one of them._ The drugs had worn off significantly now, and he was far more alert than before.

Still without an expression, the woman stood up and walked towards Mark. She was about the same height as him, but with her intense glare and cold demeanor, she was terrifying.

"I said, will you do as I say?"

Mark's wings curled into himself as he took a step back. "Yes."

"Good. Follow me to your room." The woman walked out of the room, and Mark followed.

They went down another long hall, took a left, and then continued past several metal doors with tiny barred windows on them. For the sake of curiosity, Mark found himself glancing into them as he passed.

Inside of one, there was a guy creating small snowballs and throwing them at the far wall. Inn the cell right next to his, there was another guy that was creating little flames on his fingertips. Mark glanced into another cell, where he saw a guy and a younger kid talking to each other. The kid managed to look up just when Mark was staring, and the two made eye contact.

"Your cell is here."

Mark snapped his head forward to look at the woman, who was pointing at an open cell. He cautiously walked inside, tensing as the door slammed shut.

"See you tomorrow morning," the woman said. With that, she walked back down the hall.

Mark hugged his arms around his torso as he walked over and sat on an old mattress that was in the corner of the room. He stared at the cold ground as his eyes watered.

And then he cried.


	15. -Fourteen-

After moving through the woods for what seemed like forever, Marzia finally stopped running. Her hair was frizzy from the winter air, and she seemed to shiver just a little. Felix could feel the cold through his own clothes as well. There was still a light amount of drugs in his system, however, which somewhat helped him stay numb to the briskness. Marzia turned to Felix, her eyes searching his face for alertness.

"Do you think you can stand?"

Felix nodded. "Yeah."

Marzia raised her hand and then slowly lowered it. The dirt around Felix's waist gently placed him back on his feet. Then, once he was safely standing on his own, the dirt fell apart. Felix looked around the woods, searching the snowy clearing for shelter. "Where are we?" There didn't appear to be any buildings around them, just trees and snow.

Smiling, Marzia raised both her hands in the air. The ground started to shake as the snow and dirt broke away a few feet in front of them, revealing a trapdoor.

Felix's eyes widened.

Marzia walked over and opened the door, motioning for Felix to come forward.

Felix walked over to the trapdoor, wincing as he rubbed his temples. Marzia frowned. "How many drugs did they give you?'

"I don't- hey! How did you know about that?"

Marzia sighed. "I heard him mention something about it when I saw you. Plus, they always drug them before they bring them out to kill them."

"Always? How many people have they done this to?"

"Well, you're about to meet some of them." Marzia carefully slid into the opening and started climbing down a ladder. Felix tried to see what was at the bottom of the hole, but it was completely dark. Marzia called up to Felix. "Close the trapdoor on your way down, I'll move the dirt back over it once you do."

Nodding, Felix got into the hole and climbed down after her, closing the trapdoor on the way. The ground began shaking again as Marzia moved the dirt back over the trapdoor. Felix froze in place on the ladder, his knuckles turning white with how hard he was clutching the rings. Eventually the shaking stopped. Sighing, Felix finished climbing down the ladder, going slowly due to the lack of light. Once he got to the bottom, a light flicked on, showing where they were.

They seemed to be in some giant underground burrow, evident by the dirt walls. The ceiling stretched up about two feet above Felix's head, a few lights embedded into the dirt that made it up. There were some openings in the walls to what appeared to be other rooms and halls, most of them covered by raggedy curtains.

In the room they were currently in, however, there was an old sofa and a coffee table, with a radio sitting on top of said coffee table. Marzia walked further into the room, Felix following.

Marzia bent down and turned on the radio, listening as all she heard was static. She sighed, turning it off. Felix frowned. "What is that for?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about. Anyway, you hungry? We could probably grab something from the kitchen."

Felix's eyes widened. "The kitchen? You have a kitchen down here?!" Giggling, Marzia nodded. "You've got to give me some credit, I've been practicing. Come on, it's in here." She walked through one of the doorways with Felix. On the other side was a room with numerous pantries and a couple of large freezers. There was also a table surrounded by chairs.

Marzia opened one of the pantries and pulled out a can. "You're lucky, Stephanie just got back from a supply run with a ton of food." She opened the can and stuck a hand in, pulling out a pear slice and eating it. She then held the can out to Felix, who took one as well. "Thanks, how do you get electricity down here?"

"Well," Marzia ate another peach, "When it was just me, I didn't really use electricity. I made a fireplace and kept myself warm that way. I also had less rooms so that I didn't have to warm up that much space. When I found Stephanie, however, she told me how dangerous it was to have open holes that lead into the burrow. So she taught me how I could build an electrical system through the dirt. We grabbed some lights and equipment that she fixed, and then even more once the others joined us."

"Who else is here?"

"Well," Marzia ate another peach, "we have me, Stephanie, Bob, Wade, Thomas, Joan, Talyn-"

"Marzia!" A voice interjected. Marzia smiled as a boy and a girl walked into the room. The boy was smiling, and the girl was frowning, staring right at Felix. "Thomas, Stephanie, this is Felix. Felix, this is Thomas and Stephanie."

Smiling, Felix turned towards the new faces and observed. Thomas grinned even bigger, somehow. "So, you've met the lovely Marzia, our wonderful earth-bending savior."

Marzia laughed. "Thomas is our resident sweetheart, by the way." Stephanie walked up to Felix. "So, where did Marzia find you?"

Felix pointed up at the ceiling. "Out in the woods."

Marzia looked up at the ceiling as well, glaring at the dirt. "More mutant-traffickers."

Frowning, Thomas looked to Felix. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Stephanie looked Felix up and down. "So, you're mutant?"

Felix nodded. "Yeah, aren't you all?"

Thomas shook his head. "Not all of us. Some of us don't have abilities and are just normal."

Felix narrowed his eyes. "What? What humans would actually want to help us?"

Stephanie crossed her arms. "Me, for one. Are you seriously one of those mutants that despises humans?"

"Well, it's hard to really trust them when they put me in a cage," Felix spat. "Or do horrifying experiments on my friends. Or separate me from them. So sorry for being skeptical."

Stephanie glared at him before looking at Marzia. "I'll be in the gym." With that she left. After she was gone, Felix looked at Marzia. "Gym?" Shrugging, Marzia replied. "Sort of. We don't have actual gym equipment, just some random stuff I made from stone. Not the most conventional."

Thomas gave a thumbs up. "But it works fantastically!"

Marzia smiled. "Thanks Thomas. Oh! Did you manage to get that thing for Joan?" Thomas smiled sheepishly. "Um, actually, Roman and Logan started fighting a bit, so we weren't able to get it."

"It's okay, I can head out with you right now and we can go back for it. We'll use my tunnels so we won't have to worry about being spotted."

Thomas beamed. "That would be amazing! Thank you!"

Marzia looked at Felix. "Hey you won't mind being on your own for a bit here, will you? I'm sure one of the others would be happy to give you a little tour. Oh! And you really should get one. I don't have any bedrooms marked, so you might walk in while someone is changing."

Felix shook his head. "I'm sure I can manage to find someone to give me a tour before that can happen. Go find your thing."

Marzia smiled before heading out of the room with Thomas. Felix sighed, eating the rest of the peaches. After that, he looked around the room, seeing a pile of cans inside of some hollow in the wall. He tossed his empty peach can into the pile and walked out of the kitchen, wanting to explore.

Felix walked back into the main room and let his eyes roam along the random entryways. After debating with himself, he decided on a random one and walked in.

Inside the room was a large metal table with tools and odd junk that Felix couldn't describe on it. Two other boys were messing around with the junk on the table. Well, one was, and the other was just talking to him.

"Wade, that piece isn't going to fit there."

"I'll make it fit."

_"Wade."_

"Look I got this- oh... hi?" Wade looked up from the table, where he was seemingly trying to cram a screwdriver under a piece of metal that was sticking out from a rectangular object.

Felix waved. "Um, hey? Marzia brought me here. I'm Felix. Who are you two?"

Wade pointed to himself. "I'm Wade." He then pointed at the boy standing next to him. "That's Bob."

Bob gave a small wave. "Hey."

Committing the names to memory, Felix walked further into the room. "Ya don't mind me being nosy about what you're doing, do you? I was just kind of left in the kitchen while Marzia left with Thomas. I think they were going to possibly go with someone named Roman and another named Logan, maybe?"

Bob and Wade exchanged a look before laughing. Confused, Felix waited for their laughter to subside. "I... what?"

Bob was the first to calm down enough to speak. "Sorry, you're just really right and wrong about that. It'll make more sense after you meet them personally."

Felix tilted his head to the side. "Okay... well um, Marzia said that I should probably get a tour from someone before I just walk into someone's bedroom, so would either of you be willing?"

Bob nodded. "Yeah, I got you. Besides, I want to be far away from Wade before he completely wrecks that thing."

"Fuck you!"

Bob turned around and flipped Wade off. "Fuck you!" Both boys smiled immediately after, their friendship obvious and strong. "So," Bob turned to Felix, "a tour you say?"

Felix nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Bob lead them out of the room, leaving Wade to do whatever he was doing. The two of them reentered the main room Felix had first entered. Bob pointed back at the room Wade was in. "So, that's kind of a workshop, so to speak? Wade's working on fixing up this toaster oven that Stephanie found. Oh! You haven't met her."

"No, I have," Felix sighed.

"Yeah you definitely have. Only people who have met the force that is Stephanie react like that, but don't mind her, she just isn't easy to trust new people."

Felix shook his head. "No, that's fair. Especially with how things are."

Bob looked around the area. "It's a shitty way to live though." He pointed at a room. "Bathrooms, laundry, and showers are there. Don't ask me how they managed to get plumbing down here, the shit leaves, that's all that matters. Opposite of that room you have the gym, and next to the gym is the kitchen. The last opening you see leads to a hallway that has all of the bedrooms branching off from it. At the end of the hall, the very last four rooms are unoccupied. Marzia likes to think ahead." Bob clapped his hands. "There's the tour!"

Felix nodded. "Brief, I like it."

"No need to drag it out." Bob glanced at Felix. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how did Marzia find you? Was it the scouts?"

"Scouts?"

"Yeah, scouts. They're these people that abduct mutants and make them fight each other. They bet on who the winners will be. Like dog fights. It's horrible. We found Thomas after he managed to escape one of the scouts, and he told us all he had learned about the arena. We don't know exactly where it is, but it's still sickening. Thankfully though, we were able to find more people and help them."

Felix clenched his fists. "My friends, that's where they are. All three of us were abducted. Those assholes took my friends and are going to force them to fight for their own fucking entertainment!" Felix bolted to the ladder, not as fast as he could have normally, thanks to the drugs.

Bob walked over. "Okay, just calm down for a moment. What exactly are you doing?"

"I'm going to find them!"

"First off, you have no idea where they are, second, you are one person. How the fuck do you expect this to turn out?"

Felix stared at the ladder for a moment before sighing and turning back to face Bob. "Alright, but I can't just sit here."

"Well sitting here and being alive is better for your friends than being out there and dead." Bob frowned. "Just stay here for a day at least. I'm sure we can do something to help you. You gotta think things through before you run in like that."

Felix thought to himself for a moment before nodding. "You're right, but I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing."

Bob nodded. "Alright, then why don't you help me do laundry, that's at least something."

Felix nodded. "Okay." He then followed Bob, his urge to leave and find the others still present.


	16. -Fifteen-

He was so, unbelievably cold.

Mark slowly opened his eyes, his teeth chattering in the chilled room. It seemed to be almost pitch black, the only real light coming from a crack underneath the door. Mark had woken up curled into a little ball, his wings acting as a sort of cocoon. After having tossed his jacket outside earlier, the cold had seeped into him more, making him feel like he was sitting in a freezer. Thankfully, his wings offered some extra warmth to his torso, but the wings themselves were only warmed so much by their feathers.

It didn't help that the cell was completely stone, adding to the frigid temperature.

_Cell._

It was just like the facility.

_Back to square one._

Mark pushed himself up into a sitting position and let his wings wrap around himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't cover himself completely, just his sides and some of his front, really. His back was unfortunately exposed to the cold, due to the lack of his wings being able to completely cover his body. And the wings weren't immune to the cold, so they had to suffer in the chill as well.

Mark placed his feet on the ground, thankful that he still had his shoes. Frostbite seemed like it was only a worry for his fingers, now. Not much better, but at least he could count on his toes being intact. He stood and walked to the door, placing his palm against it.

Cool metal. The small opening to peer through at the top was covered now, possibly something that the people keeping them there chose to do for some reason. Mark lowered himself back down to the ground on his stomach and placed his face down right in front of the crack underneath the door, squinting.

He could see some of the wall opposite of him,along with the bottom of the door opposite of his. Nothing particularly helpful. Mark pushed himself back up onto his feet. Maybe the door wasn't as strong as he thought? Maybe there was a broken lock, or a loose piece of metal he could find. Anything he could use as a tool to get out, really. Once he found Anthony and Felix...

 _Anthony or Felix._ Mark reminded himself, thinking back to the woman from before, and what she had said. One of them was gone, Mark had no idea who, but one of them was.

There was the possibility that the woman had lied, but Mark knew better than to get his hopes up.

There was only so much disappointment he could take.

Mark moved his hands around the door frame, checking to see if there was any indication that it was at least a little weak. Of course, he only found that the door was strong, and without any cracks or crevices. Makes sense, they were trapping mutants after all. Top security was a priority.

Mark walked over to the bed and sat on it, pulling his knees up to his chest as his wings curled around him. All he could do was wait until someone came and opened the door.

It apparently wasn't a long wait. The doors opened not too long after Mark had sat down, and a man walked into the room. He stared at Mark, his eyes focused on the wings. "Time to eat, and then you're heading to the pit."

Mark stood up and followed the man out the door and into the hall. Some of the doors were closed still, although most of them were open. There weren't people inside the rooms, which led Mark to believe that they were wherever he was heading.

After walking down the hall for a few minutes, the man swung his arm out, stopping Mark. He opened a door. "Here."

Mark walked inside the room, wincing as the door slammed shut behind himself. There were about ten other mutants in the room, spanning ages from what appeared to be as young as ten to as old as possibly twenty. Mark let his eyes roam the small crowd, zoning in on the only person he recognized. "Anthony?"

Anthony stood up and broke away from the other mutants. "Mark!" He ran over. "Are you alright? I haven't heard from you or Felix since they separated us."

Mark shrunk at the mention of Felix. "I'm fine."

Frowning, Anthony pried. "Why do you look so upset-"

"Eat." A woman's voice boomed, cutting Anthony off. She walked towards the two of them, her hand on the hilt of something on her belt. Anthony glared at her before motioning Mark towards a table in the center of the room.

There were some apples, water bottles, and some bread rolls. It vaguely reminded Mark of elementary school, when teachers would hand out snacks to the students. Unfortunately, there were no gushers in sight.

Mark took a water bottle and a roll of bread. He wasn't that hungry, but who knew when he would get a chance to eat again.

There weren't any chairs by the table. Anthony sat on the floor, and Mark followed, taking a bite of the bread.

"I haven't seen Felix yet. Did you manage to see him by any chance?"

Mark shook his head, still chewing. He didn't want to say it.

But Anthony had a right to know.

Mark swallowed the lump of bread. "Anthony.. There was this woman, I think she's in charge of this place, but she told me that one of you was dead. If you're here..." He trailed off, not needing to say more.

Anthony blinked, clenching his hands into fists. "No... that can't be right."

"It's what she said." Mark drank some water, his eyes focused on Anthony's cold expression.

Anthony shook his head. "Well, she must have lied."

Mark almost said something, but quickly decided against it. He didn't have the energy to argue with Anthony. Mark ate the rest of his bread roll and drank the rest of his water in silence, his eyes straying away from Anthony's.

Eventually, one of the guards clapped his hands. "Up! Follow me." Each of the mutants stood up and trailed behind the guard as he lead them through a door and down a hall. They did so without any signs of hesitation. Almost like zombies.

The hall was narrow and dark, perfect scene for a horror movie, really. Mark figured that it basically was that, a horror movie.

Once they reached the end of the hall, the guard opened another door and lead them all inside. It was a large, circular room, that expanded upwards, the ceiling topping it off like a dome. Bleachers surrounded the center, where there was a large, cylinder cage that expanded to the ceiling. About five other guards were in the room as well, two on the other side of the arena holding someone in between them, and another one standing on the side of the cage nearest to Mark and the others. The guard appeared to be in charge of a gate that lead into the cage.

The guard who had lead them in smiled. "Well, most of you are all familiar with this place, but for our two new recruits, this is the Arena. We perform our fights in here. Those who win more matches get rewarded. Those that don't, well, we just encourage you to do better next time." The guard smiled at Mark and Anthony, his eyes menacing.

"We start training today." He gestured towards the cage. "So, why don't we have one of our newbies start us off."

Anthony stepped forward without hesitation. "I'll do it."

Mark grabbed him by the arm and whispered urgently. "What are you doing?"

Turning his head slightly, Anthony whispered back. "I'm going to see if there's anything that can help us get out in there. Besides, I'm strong, I can take whatever is coming." The guard motioned Anthony forward, and Mark reluctantly let go.

"So, step into the arena, and we'll have you go up against Samuel."

One of the other mutants piped up. "Are you sure that's a good idea, sir? This guy's new-"

"He'll fight who I say he'll fight." The guard said, silencing the objector. Anthony glanced back at Mark before walking towards the gate. The guard in front of it opened it and ushered him inside. As soon as Anthony entered, the gate slammed shut.

Bright lights flashed on, illuminating the arena. On the other side of the cage, another gate opened, and "Samuel" stepped out.

His skin was sickeningly pale, and it stretched across his bones like a thin blanket. Even his clothes hung off his frame, holes in various parts of the material. He was just so skinny. Why would they set him out to fight against Anthony?

Anthony looked confused too, evident in his sudden change in stance.

The guard from earlier blew a whistle, and Samuel's head snapped to the side, like the mere sound of the whistle had set him off. He cracked his bones, and large spikes erupted from his back, tearing through his thin clothes. Claws jutted from his hands and he snarled. Mark squinted his eyes as he saw what looked like shark teeth.

Anthony took a step back. "What the..."

Samuel howled before running towards Anthony, his arms swinging rapidly. Anthony dodged to the side, narrowly missing the guy's claws.

Mark felt his wings go out on instinct as he made a move to fly towards the cage. "Anthony-"

"Stop." The guard held up a tranquilizer and pointed it at Mark. "We can keep Samuel under control."

In the cage, Samuel had darted at Anthony again, slicing him in the side. Anthony cried out before punching Samuel, sending him flying across the arena and hitting the cage wall. Blood oozed from Anthony's wound as he quickly took in the situation.

Samuel cowered on the ground, curling in on himself as he whimpered.

Anthony gasped before running over. "Hey! Are you alright?" Samuel whimpered, not looking up.

Just when Mark thought it was over, the guard spoke up. "Hey! There's more fight left in you than that!" He pocketed the tranquilizer and took out a small tube that looked like a dog whistle. He then blew into it, and although Mark couldn't hear anything, he could clearly see Samuel jolt upwards and howl.

Before Anthony could properly react, Samuel sliced his claws into Anthony's throat.

"Anthony!" Mark cried out as he flew over the guard and towards the cage. He heard the panicked shouts of the people behind him as Samuel continued to scratch Anthony, his eyes wide.

Mark shoved the guard that was in front of the gate out of the way and yanked the it open. Samuel snapped his head over and began to charge at Mark, claws out.

"Stop-" Mark managed to call out one word before Samuel clawed his thigh, tearing through the pants and breaking the skin. Mark gasped before falling back. Samuel looked ready to attack again and Mark shut his eyes in fear-

-and he felt nothing. Mark looked up to see one of the other mutants standing in front of him, holding onto Samuel as the ravenous mutant clawed into his side, somehow drawing no blood. Actually, Mark noticed how the mutant in front of him didn't have normal skin. It looked like...stone.

"Go to you friend before the guards get in here," the mutant said, bringing Mark back to the present. Mark looked at the gates, noticing how the guards were ushering the other mutants back the way they had came. They weren't looking at the moment. Mark then nodded before running over to Anthony.

Blood gushed out of the many cuts on Anthony's torso, but most of it came from the slice in his neck. Mark choked back a sob as he kneeled before Anthony. "There has to be something I can do. If I just..." Mark pulled the collar of Anthony's shirt to try and apply light pressure to the bleeding cut on his neck. Coughing, Anthony shook his head.

"I have to do something!" Mark was crying now. He was full on sobbing. He couldn't give up on him, but what the hell was there that he could do?

Anthony placed a hand around Mark's wrist, still coughing, but now with tears falling down his face from the lack of oxygen. Mark shook his head. "No!"

Anthony forced a smile, blood-stained teeth and all. He coughed harshly, blood splattering onto Mark. Then, his body stilled.

"No. No. No..." Mark shook his head. "You can't leave me here. We were going to get out!" Mark felt a hand on his shoulder. The same guy who had stopped Samuel earlier was pulling Mark away, his stone skin cold, contrasting against the warm blood staining Mark's chest and hands. Mark cried and screamed as he tried to pull away. He had to do something, _anything._

But there was nothing he could do.


	17. -Sixteen-

In all honesty, the mutants that were living underground seemed to be better off than Felix and the others.

The mutants here each had their own rooms for crying out loud. Felix couldn't help but feel a little jealous. The rest of his group was probably cramped inside of the hotel room, worried, while Anthony and Mark were stuck at the arena.

And Felix was safe, warm, and folding clothes.

"Hey," Bob's voice brought Felix back to the moment. "You alright?"

Felix smiled. "Yeah, just thinking about my friends. Mark and Anthony are still at the arena. The rest of our friends are technically safe at a hotel, but who knows how long until they get caught by the people looking for us." He sighed. "I know I was just lucky, but I feel guilty standing here and doing nothing while the others are scared and in danger."

Bob frowned, still folding. "Who's looking for you and your friends?"

"I guess the government? Or like a part of it? We were being held at this facility, and they experimented on us. They were looking for a cure for the Plague. They wanted to see what made mutants immune to it." Felix scrunched his nose in anger.

"But it wasn't worth it. None of it was. I don't care how many people they could save, what they did to us was horrible."

Bob placed the clothes in his hands down into a laundry basket. "Well, at least you're all out of there now."

"That's just the thing though, we weren't the only ones. There are so many other mutants stuck there. We couldn't help them all escape. And now we're all separated." Felix pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "It's a big mess."

"It really is." Bob placed a hand on Felix's shoulder. "But, that just means you need help cleaning it up. We literally spend our time helping other mutants. That includes you and your friends. I can promise you that we'll find your friends and help protect you."

Felix gave a small smile. "Thank you."

Bob smiled back before walking away and grabbing a full laundry basket. "Well, let's get these clothes back to the main room so the others can grab what's theirs."

Felix nodded before grabbing another basket and following Bob out of the laundry room. They walked into the main room, back where the radio and the ladder was, and set the baskets on the coffee table.

Bob held his index finger up. "Hold on, I gotta check something real quick, and then you can help me and Wade with fixing some of the appliances." He walked over to the radio and turned it on.

Static poured out of the radio, just like before.

And then, there was a small beep.

Felix narrowed his eyes. "Weird. What's that?"

Bob's eyes were wide, he didn't even seem to register Felix's question. "Stephanie!"

A few moments later Stephanie ran into the room. "What?" Bob opened his mouth to say something, only for the radio to give off more beeps, some long, some short.

Stephanie gasped. "Morse code." She ran out of the room, and quickly came back with a pen and a sheet of paper. She started writing down letters as she heard them. "How long has this been going, do you remember what the first beeps were?"

Bob nodded his head. "I heard only a single short beep, and before that it was just static."

"And it's the right channel?"

"Yes."

Felix shifted awkwardly on his feet. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about," Stephanie called, not even looking up from her paper as she wrote.

Bob looked over at Felix sympathetically before going back to listening to the radio.

Eventually, the beeps stopped, and the radio returned to static. They all stayed still, waiting for more.

After a while Stephanie spoke up and broke the silence. "So, I got a message."

Bob walked closer to Stephanie as he tried to see the paper. "An address?" Stephanie shook her head. "Not exactly. It's hard to figure out. They're words but I don't know what he's trying to tell me."

Felix threw his hands up. "Who? Who sent that message?"

Stephanie didn't answer him, instead she kept staring at the words. Bob looked at Felix.

"Well, it's a bit of a story."

Felix crossed his arms. "I don't really have any place to go."

"Well," Bob started. "Marzia was the first one to start this little group, and before there was us, there was another girl. Her name is Krism, at least, that's what she told us to call her. Apparently, this girl had saved Marzia from some people who were trying to buy her. Mutant slavery, not new. Anyway, Krism's a mutant too, a strong one at that. She didn't say a lot about where she was from, but she did say she was looking for someone. Another mutant that could control technology-"

"Cry!" Felix shouted, his eyes wide.

Bob raised an eyebrow. "How did you know his name?"

"My friends and I were looking for Cry. He's supposedly really powerful, and he can help us free the others from the facility we were being held at."

Bob smirked. "Small world. We've been looking for him for a couple years. Then, we got a message from him on a radio. It wasn't morse, he was actually speaking to us. He asked for a bunch of names, and Krism said that none of them were with us. Then, we lost the signal. We haven't gotten another message until now."

Felix turned to Stephanie. "What does it say?!"

"It's just a garbled mess of words. It doesn't make any sense."

Bob took the paper from Stephanie and read it aloud. "East. Italy. Drugs. Building. Family."

Stephanie sighed. "The only things that really give a clue are East and Italy and even then, it's vague."

Bob pointed to one of the doors. "We need to go back on 24/7 surveillance. If he sends another message, we need to make sure someone else hears it. There has to be more."

Felix shifted. "Matt was traveling with us, he knew where Cry was originally stationed, so he could probably help figure out what Cry is trying to say to you and confirm his location."

Stephanie shifted. "We'll talk more about this with Krism and the others when they get back from their runs. This needs to be a group decision."

Felix groaned. "I'm literally capable of giving you more information. I still remember the hotel we were staying at. We should go there now and bring the others back here. Matt said Cry was in Italy, and he probably knows around the exact area, too."

"Look, we just met you, I don't care what you think. We make decisions as a group. You, are not a part of that group." Stephanie glared at Felix, her voice loud and clear.

Felix glared right back, his dislike of the girl growing with every second.

Bob stepped in between the both of them, smiling awkwardly. "Alright, whoa there. Let's calm down. Felix, we usually decide on these things as a group. Marzia, Krism, and Thomas should be back soon." He turned to Stephanie. "Steph, you can just chill. You're being really unfair to him."

Stephanie rolled her eyes before grabbing the sheet of paper and leaving the room. Felix kept glaring in her direction. What was her problem?

Bob turned to Felix. "Look, everyone should be back soon, and then we can look more into this."

"Fine, whatever. I can do something else until then." Felix took a step towards the hall, only for Bob to place his hand on his shoulder.

"Get some rest first. You still have those drugs in your system. Even though they're probably faded by now, that's a lot on your body. Besides, it's getting closer to night. Some sleep will make this a lot easier."

Felix muttered to himself before roughly shrugging Bob's hand off. "Alright, I'll go get some sleep. Wake me up as soon as the others get back though, even if it's in like an hour." He sighs. "I just... I need to make sure my friends are okay as soon as possible."

Bob nodded. "Of course. I can show you to one of our spare rooms."

They both walked off towards the bedrooms, Felix's mind still racing with the new information from Cry.

They had a chance now. A far greater one than before. Maybe they could reunite the others and get to Cry faster than Felix had thought. They could actually have a chance at really, truly being safe.

Just as long as the government didn't find them first.


	18. -Seventeen-

Mark missed Thomas.

He missed him so, so much.

Whenever Mark had a bad dream, or a bad day, Thomas was always the one to calm him down. Always. Every panic attack, every time Mark had gotten hurt, Thomas was there.

_And now..._

Sighing, Mark shifted on his mattress. After he was dragged away from Anthony, the guards had made him return to his room. Honestly, he was happy that they had sent him back, he didn't want to be around any of those strangers anymore.

Of course, there wasn't exactly much to do in the cell.

_Whatever._

Mark didn't care.

He'd be able to pass the time until... whatever happened next.

So,without anything else to do, he had spent the last few hours sitting on the bed, alternating between crying, and thinking.

Thankfully, Mark was currently in the middle of thinking, not crying. His tear ducts had time to reload. For the moment Mark could just relax and _hyper fixate on the blood from Anthony that was still covering his skin and clothes._

 _Great_.

They never gave him a chance to wash it off. They just ushered him out of the cage, away from the corpse. The fluid had dried a few hours ago, but it didn't change the fact that it made Mark want to vomit every time he looked at it.

He could still see it. All of it. The entire scene was still clear as day, and the blood continued to cement the gory details in Mark's mind.

It had to go.

Mark started to scrape the dried blood off with his fingernails. It came off in dark red flakes onto the mattress and the ground. _Disgusting_.

Unfortunately, as the flakes fell, Mark realized that the blood had also given his skin a slightly red tint. There was no way it was going to come off without water.

Tears pricked Mark's eyes as he started scratching at his wrists, trying to get rid of the tint. He only succeeded in giving himself angry red lines along his arms, getting dangerously close to breaking the skin.

And then he did.

He didn't notice it at first. He was too busy trying to get his friend's blood off of his skin. Once the blood from the scratches started to run, though, was when he lost it.

A thin line of his own blood traced a path through Anthony's dry blood. Mark choked back a sob before hugging his torso, trembling.

Back to crying.

This round of crying lasted for a while. It probably would have lasted longer, had the door not opened.

A woman stepped into the room, her eyes noticing the wings first, and then the blood on his arms. Mark looked up at her, sniffling.

The woman cleared her throat, still looking at his arms. "We um, have another mutant here who offered to take you to the showers to get cleaned up."

Mark really didn't want to be around anyone, but he wanted the blood off of his skin more. "Okay..."

The woman nodded, forcing somewhat of a smile. "Great." She turned to her side, talking to someone Mark couldn't see. "Make sure you get him back here within the hour."

"Got it." The person she was talking to stepped into view, and Mark immediately recognized him as the same boy who had saved him earlier. Once the woman left, the boy smiled. "I'm Tyler."

Mark shifted. "Mark..."

Tyler nodded. "C'mon, I know you don't want to be covered in that any longer than you have to."

Mark stood up and wearily followed him out of the cell. Tyler pointed down the hall. "The showers aren't too far." He then started walking in the direction he had pointed, Mark close behind.

There were still people with guns lining the hall, but they didn't pay the two any mind. Still, Mark decided to err on the side of caution and stayed as close to Tyler as possible.

Eventually, they stopped outside of a door. Tyler opened it, gesturing Mark to go first.

"Thanks.." Mark walked inside, taking the room in.

The floor was covered in tile, as were the walls. However, the space was completely open. There weren't any stalls, instead there were just showerheads sticking out of the walls.

Tyler walked towards one of the showerheads, pointing at a knob. "This turns it on." He pointed at another one right next to it." That adjusts the temperature. Left is hot, right is cold. It's winter, so the pipes will probably be cold no matter how far left you turn the knob. There's soap right here, there's a towel hanging on the rack across the room, and there are some fresh clothes folded under that."

Mark nodded, shifting on his feet.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Tyler's eyes widened. "Oh, right, you probably haven't showered with someone in the room before. Sorry, I can, uh, turn around..." He faced towards the door, completely keeping his gaze away from Mark.

"Thank you." Mark took off his clothes, nervously glancing around the room, and then placed them a couple yards away from the range of the showerheads he planned to use.

Mark then turned the water on, shivering at the frigid temperature. He turned the knob all the way to the left and grabbed the bar of soap, working on getting the blood off his arms first.

The blood was still hard to get off even with soap and water, but Mark worked diligently and scrubbed hard, making sure that every single trace of blood was gone. The soap did sting a little when it seeped into the small scratches he gave himself, but only a little.

After the blood completely washed down the drain, Mark quickly cleaned the rest of himself, wincing a little when he had to work around the cut in his thigh. Once he was done, he shut the water off, and grabbed the towel that was hanging on the rack, drying himself off quickly.

Mark then grabbed the new clothes and put them on. A pair of shorts, and a black t-shirt with a low-cut back, allowing the base of his wings to be more comfortable. "I'm dressed now."

Tyler turned back around. "Feeling a little better?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah, the shower helped a lot. Thanks."

Tyler smiled. "No problem, I just, if I were in the same position, I would want to get clean as soon as possible. And I figured you wouldn't want to shower in here with a bunch of people your first day. Gotta warn you though, this is probably the only time you'll be able to do it alone. They usually have us all shower at the same time."

Mark sighed. "Great."

"It's not bad. Most of us keep our eyes to the ground and stay far away from each other, and there aren't a ton of us so you'll have space." He narrowed his eyes, looking annoyed. "But there are a couple of assholes who try to size you up."

Mark shifted as his wings curled around himself a little. "Oh."

Tyler shook his head. "Don't worry about it, they won't do anything to you."

"How do you know that?"

Crossing his arms, Tyler answered. "I know they wouldn't, because if they did, they would have to deal with me."

 _Well, he did look imposing_. Mark had to admit, he couldn't imagine anyone really trying to go up against Tyler. Even if he wasn't a mutant, his usually stoic expression made him look intimidating.

Still, Mark was trying not to be too trusting. "Why are you being nice to me?"

Tyler gave a small smile. "There's such a thing as having a heart, you know. Plus I'm one of the main fighters here, so I tend to have more freedom to help people. I feel like, if you are given the ability to help someone, you should take that opportunity while you still can. You don't know when you're going to have that ability taken away."

Mark nodded, smiling back. "That's a good philosophy. It would be nice if more people thought like that."

Tyler shrugged. "It would be nice. We don't live in a perfect world though, unfortunately." He glanced towards the door. "We'll probably have to get you back to your room soon..."

Mark nodded, his smile dropping a bit. "Right."

Tyler tilted his head. "I know it sucks in there, especially when you're alone."

"No, I think I need to be alone for a bit again." Mark forced a small smile. "Getting cleaned up and talking to you was nice but..." He sighed, his wings curling even more towards himself.

"I can still see everything that happened. It just keeps playing over in my head, and then I think about other stuff that's happened and- it gets jumbled." Mark pointed at his forehead. "In here."

"It's gotta be hard seeing a friend go... like that. I'm sorry. He didn't deserve it." He looked away before once again meeting Mark's eyes. "Are you sure you want to be by yourself?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah, I don't really want to be around anyone else right now... no offense."

"None taken. Let's get you back." Tyler smiled, leading the way again.

Once they had reached Mark's room, Mark turned to Tyler. "Thank you, again."

"No problem. They'll probably make you leave your room tomorrow morning, just an f.y.i. I don't think they'll give you more than today to um... grieve."

Mark sighed. "Got it. I'll... see you tomorrow then."

Tyler nodded. "See ya..." A guard standing by the wall cleared his throat. Rolling his eyes, Tyler started to head down the hall.

Mark gave him one last look before going back into his room.


	19. -Eighteen-

For as shitty as the hotel was, it had some surprisingly good coffee.

Dan stared down at his foam cup, once again trying to focus his attention on the simple smell of roasted coffee beans. 

It had been a couple of days since Felix and Anthony had left to go find Mark. At least, that’s what Evan had said.

Dan and the others were the last ones to get to the hotel. After they had checked around the dumpster where they had found Mark’s feather, they had decided it would be better to go meet up with the others at the hotel. They had hoped that they would all be able to look for him together.

And of course, Anthony and Felix had left on their own.

At this point, trying to leave again might make things worse. There was no way for the groups to communicate with each other. The only safe option was for the remaining mutants to wait for Felix, Anthony, and Mark to come to the hotel.

So now, everyone was worried.

Dan stuck his key in the lock to their room, his mind already starting to ache from the rapid, worried thoughts of his friends behind the door. Sighing, he took a sip of his coffee and walked in.

Matt and Nate were sitting on the bed, staring down at a notepad in between them. 

Nate tilted his head. “If we skip getting more food, we can probably afford another night. I mean, they have a continental breakfast that we can take from…”

Matt shook his head. “No, they only serve muffins and coffee, and even then, the other people staying here will get pissed if they realize others are taking more than what the hotel recommended for rations.”

Nate bit his lip, looking down at the notepad again.

Dan frowned as he closed the door behind himself, Matt and Nate’s thoughts starting to become louder in his head.

Usually, Dan wasn’t able to read thoughts so seamlessly. That was more up Ryan or Minx’s alley. Dan just went into memories. 

Lately though, everyone was on edge. Including Dan. All of the stress and worry, it was forcing Dan’s ability into overdrive. Every thought within a five-foot radius of him was amplified. 

Hence why Dan frequently had been trying to get out of the room.

Dan leaned against the wall as he tried to separate the thoughts that were attacking his mind.

Nate’s thoughts seemed loud and worrisome.  _ They have to be fine. Felix and Anthony have some of the most helpful mutations out of us all. They should’ve been able to find Mark easily. They might be on their way back now. We just need one more day here. _

Matt’s thoughts weren’t as loud or as panicked at Nate’s, but they were more rapid. Trying to calculate the probability of success in a short amount of time.  _ Mark was separated from the others, and he has a physical mutation. However, he’s been on the streets longer than any of us. He’s capable. He can take care of himself. Felix and Anthony could’ve found him easily. But, if the government put out our pictures- _

Dan quickly pulled his focus away from Matt’s stream of consciousness. It was already giving him a headache. He glanced over to Evan and Jonathan, who were sitting on the ground and talking. They were worried as well, but they had managed to overshadow their stress with conversation about random, unimportant topics. The others were annoyed with what seemed like a dismissal of the problem at hand, but Dan knew better.

Evan’s mind was calm, but it was working hard. He was going over various plans in his head of what to do next. He had ideas about where they could look for Mark, about how they could try and find Anthony and Felix along the way. He was enthusiastic about his plans, too.  _ Tonight, I could easily transform and fly overhead, look for clues. No one would think much of it. _

Dan would have to try and get Evan to share his ideas. Matt and Nate might think they have it handled, but with input from the others, they’d have a better shot.

Jonathan’s thoughts weren’t really about finding the others, but rather on how he could help make things easier for everyone else.  _ I saw a help wanted sign nearby, maybe I can work during the day and provide the cash so that we can stay at the hotel. If Felix and Anthony find Mark, it will be easier for them to find us if we stay in one place. _

It seemed like almost everyone was actively thinking about how they could help. Honestly, it was inspiring. They were determined to bring their friends back.

And then, Jack’s thoughts surfaced above the rest. 

Dan glanced over at him, eyebrows knitting together in concern. No one was more worried than Jack was. After all, he was the closest to Mark and Felix. He of course cared about Anthony’s well being, but it was different when it came to the other two.

Jack pretended to be reading his BSL book, but Dan knew that every time Jack tried to study a sign, he would think of his time spent learning the language with Mark. That, and his fear that Felix would again try to convince him that he shouldn’t learn the language, that it was like giving up on his voice.

Dan focused a little more on Jack’s thoughts. It wasn’t exactly hard. Jack’s thoughts were loud, and laced with an underlying sadness. _If I had just not punched that guy, Felix wouldn’t have intervened. We would’ve made it here fine. Or maybe I could’ve done more to convince Felix to go back. Maybe I should’ve gone with him and Anthony._ _They might be hurt because of me. They could’ve been captured. They might be going through experiments right now._

Memories started to pop up in Jack’s head. Dan’s brain immediately started looking through them, a habit he hadn’t shaken ever since he first discovered his own ability. Visions of the labs flashed through Dan’s mind. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Jack had to witness everything. 

He saw Felix cry as doctors cut open sections of his legs to try and see the difference in his tissue versus another mutant’s. He saw Anthony screaming as he was slowly crushed between two walls, to see how much pressure it took to break his nearly indestructible bones. He saw Mark sobbing as doctors cut and pinned the skin on his back so they could see how he could fly.

It was disgusting and horrifying, and Jack was always there to heal them afterwards. 

A single thought emitted from Jack then, and it chilled Dan to the core.

_ If I’m not there, what’s going to happen after they go through that again. _

Dan pulled away from Jack’s thoughts, although they still lingered around him. He wasn’t able to fully silence the thoughts, just turn down the volume a bit.

Sighing, Dan walked over and sat down next to Jack. “Hey, so what’s the sign for coffee?”

Jack glanced up at Dan, his nose scrunched up in confusion. He then looked down at the book, flipping through until he landed on a specific page. After reading the diagrams, he turned and looked at Dan, a small smile on his face as he made a  _ C  _ using his index finger and thumb, twisting his wrist towards himself.

Dan smiled, mimicking the motion himself. “I am now one step closer to being fluent.”

Jack snickered silently, and Dan, for a moment, felt the troubled thoughts become quieter.

But only for a moment.

Dan took a sip of his coffee. “How are you holding up?”

Jack put the BSL book down and picked up the notepad sitting besides him. He actually hadn’t been using it that much lately.

After scribbling something down, Jack handed the notepad to Dan.

_ “As good as I can be right now.” _

Dan nodded. “Do you want to go down to the lobby and get some coffee?”

Jack raised an eyebrow, pointing at the foam cup in Dan’s hands. Without hesitation, Dan chugged the rest of it, burning his tongue in the process.

“There! Now I need more.”

Jack smirked, shaking his head. 

“Is that a yes then?”

Jack nodded, standing up. Dan stood as well, leading them out of the room and back into the hall.

After grabbing coffee from the lobby, Dan pointed towards a window. Snow was falling. A lot of it too.

“It hasn’t let up, huh…”

Jack shook his head, drinking some coffee.

His thoughts became louder, and Dan couldn’t help but listen to them.

_ They might be freezing right now. _

Sighing, Dan drank some more coffee. 

Dan wasn’t the one to help people feel better. He was a pessimist. In fact, Dan went out of his way to avoid people that were sad or angry. He couldn’t make them feel better, he only made them feel worse.

And yet, here he was, trying to make Jack happy for a few moments.

Dan told himself it was because no one else was noticing Jack’s pain. He told himself it was because only Dan could really see what was going on in everyone’s mind.

Technically, that was true. Dan was the only one that could really see the pain behind everyone’s expressions, the only one who could tell that something was wrong.

But that wasn’t the only reason he was trying to help Jack.

The guilt Jack was feeling, Dan felt it too.

Phil was still back at the facility. Dan could’ve stayed behind instead of going with the others. He could’ve gone back for Phil. He could’ve done something.

But he didn’t.

And he had no idea if Phil was okay.

Guilt built in Dan’s chest. He knew Jack was feeling the same exact way. And it hurt. Dan didn’t want anyone else suffering like him.

A gentle tug on his sleeve brought Dan out of his own thoughts. He looked to Jack, who had a soft smile. Jack pointed back towards the hotel room.

“Yeah, sure.” Dan walked back towards the room with Jack. When he placed his key in the doorknob, he froze, hearing muffled yelling from inside.

Jack glanced up at Dan, his eyes wide with confusion. Curious, Dan opened the door.

“We can’t leave yet!” Jonathan was fuming. 

Evan nodded beside him. “He’s right, it’s selfish.”

Matt sighed. “We’ve wasted too much time and money waiting for them. We could’ve found Cry by now if we had left earlier.”

Shaking his head, Jonathan looked to Nate. “You can’t possibly agree with him.”

Nate shifted on his feet, biting his lip. “Look, I don’t like it either, but Matt is right. This is the best decision. The only one, really.”

Dan stormed in, slamming the door shut after Jack had entered the room. “What the fuck is wrong with you? First we leave the people at the facility behind, and now you want to leave the others too?”

Everyone’s thoughts were loud now. Dan couldn’t even separate them anymore. 

Matt sighed. “I don’t want to leave anyone behind. This is the best option for us right now. Don’t you remember what Mark said about our photos being distributed? Staying in one place is a horrible idea.”

“Then let's go to a different hotel!” Dan threw his hands up in the air. “Or something else! Anything other than abandoning our friends when they need us! What if something happens to them just because we took one day too long to find them?!”

Nate piped up. “Matt is the smartest out of all of us, and he’s gone through dozens of scenarios. The chance of Mark and the others getting to the hotel is slim. If they were coming, they would have already.”

Jonathan shifted. “They could just be stuck somewhere for the moment. Maybe we should go out looking for them! Staying here obviously isn’t working.”

“Then what? We get captured too?” Matt crossed his arms. “Even if we did go back, where would we look? It’s been days. If they were okay, they would’ve reached us by now. So, in a matter of statistics, the most probable answer is that they’ve been captured, or they’ve been killed.”

Soft sniffling sounds came from behind Dan, and he turned to see Jack crying. More memories of the facility came to mind, of bruised, bloody bodies. Dan tried to push them out of his own head, but Jack was too distraught, his memories were too loud.

Dan turned and glared at Matt. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Dan stepped forward, causing Matt to step back. “I don’t care how smart you are, there’s always a chance that they’re okay. These are people, not numbers in an equation.” He gestured to the whole room. “You don’t know what we’ve been through. I’ve looked into the past of so many of these people. They’ve been through shit, but they survived.” He lowered his arms, his eyes growing dark.

“If you want to give up on us like Minx and Ryan did, fine. But I sure as fuck won’t.”

Matt glanced nervously at Nate, who returned the look. Sighing, Matt looked to Dan. 

“Nate and I are still going. I would love it if the rest of you followed, but I understand if you don’t.”

Gritting his teeth, Dan forced down the urge to use his powers. “So, that’s it?”

Matt shifted. “I guess it is.”

The room went quiet.

Dan wordlessly walked over to the wall and leaned against it, drinking coffee as he stared ahead. Jack sat down beside him, still sniffling.

The next few hours went by slowly. Nate and Matt got backpacks ready for travel. Evan and Jonathan had decided to stay, so they were dividing up rations and money. Jack stared down at his BSL book, not really reading. Dan just kept going through the thoughts in his own head, anger emitting from him.

Everyone was able to fall asleep, surprisingly.

Early the next morning, Dan woke up from his spot on the floor, the thin blanket doing little to keep him warm. He glanced at the doorway, seeing Matt and Nate packed and ready to go.

Not even going to say goodbye.

Dan focused his mind on reading their thoughts. Everyone else was asleep, so it wasn’t even as hard as usual.

Nate’s thoughts were somber.  _ I feel horrible. They don’t deserve this. But the others back at the facility didn’t deserve it when we all left them, either. At least, if we find Cry, we know for sure we can free everyone else. _

Frowning, Dan shifted to Matt.

_ I need to know they’re okay.  _

Instead of rapid words, images flashed in Matt’s mind. Pictures of what appeared to be a younger Minx and Ryan, and of a boy that Dan didn’t recognize. It seemed like an old memory.

Then, Matt opened the door, exiting the room. Nate followed, softly shutting the door behind them.

Dan stared into the darkness as he felt their presence fade. He kept still until their minds were no longer in his range.

They had their reasons for leaving.

The others had their reasons for staying.

That’s just how it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not everyone wants the same thing


End file.
